Digimon Slayers
by SilvorMoon
Summary: Part 7 up! Ruki and her friends want answers, and the mysterious priest Ryo seems to have them, but his motives are suspect. Throw in a slightly spacey sage, a desperate sorceress, and a mysterious program... Ruki can't back down now, can she?
1. The Sorceress and the Swordsman

**_Disclaimer:_** Most of the ideas in this fic are based on either Digimon or The Slayers. Neither of these belongs to me. 

**_Author's Note:_** The following is an alternate universe, based heavily (though not completely) on the first season of "The Slayers." Certain changes have been made to accommodate the differences between the two worlds. 

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Digital Slayers

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By: SilvorMoon

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A lone figure slipped silently through the darkness, doing her best not to be seen or heard. That was nothing unusual in this world, not at this time of night when the creatures of shadow were out in full force. During the day, the human race crept out of their hiding places to wander the ruined city, but at night, most sensible people hid and the monsters wandered freely. Most humans, and especially most young girls, would have been terrified to be in the position this girl was now: alone at midnight in the middle of the ruins, looking out at one of the ugliest bands of monsters she had ever come across. She crept a little closer, trying to get a better look. 

*_Definitely Digimon,_* she noted, sizing up the beasts. *_One, two, three, four... twelve altogether. At least Champion level, and probably more. Well, I was looking for a challenge. These guys will probably deliver._* 

There had been rumors drifting around for quite some time now, all of them whispering the names of a particularly nasty gang of Digimon who called themselves the Devas. Digimon were always trouble for humans; the two races had been feuding with each other for eons. However, most Digimon tended to either travel alone or stick close to their own villages and seldom venture out. For a group of several types of Digimon to band together and actively seek out trouble was a rarity, and when it happened, it was a cause for real worry. Looking at this set, the girl could see why they had gathered such fame. Visible in the dim circle of firelight were several technomagical items, at least one deck of Cards, and any number of other things that were lit to dimly to be made out for sure. All of it looked valuable, a guess that was confirmed when she drew close enough to hear. 

"Excellent work, my fellows!" said one of the Digimon, clapping his hands together gleefully. He was the smallest of the lot, a monkey-like creature with a broad mouth and round, staring eyes. He also had the kind of voice that made a person want to smack him just on general principle, and the girl felt her hands itch with the urge to try. "We've made an excellent haul tonight. Our master will be very pleased with me - with us! He will be very pleased with us, so enjoy yourselves, everyone!" 

The other Digimon agreed that this was a good idea. Most of them were already carrying on rambunctiously, making so much racket that they probably wouldn't have heard if a small army had marched by. There were heaps of food piled at regular intervals around the circle, and the majority of the crowd seemed to be enjoying making pigs of themselves. The big-mouthed monkey was one of the few who wasn't, opting instead to strut around staring at their treasures as if he was personally responsible for all of it. The only other one that wasn't joining in the festivities was a tall rabbit Digimon that stood silently at the edge of the clearing. He was so still that at first the girl hadn't realized he was alive until she saw his red eyes flashing in the firelight. She frowned. Why was he being so quiet? Squinting into the darkness, she could see that there was something else behind him, roundish and metallic, and something was moving inside. 

*_Of all the valuable things they have here, why is that they have a guard posted only for whatever that is?_* she wondered. *_All right, that does it. I'm crashing this little party._* 

The rabbit was the first to notice the movement. Instantly, he gave a shout of alarm, and the other Devas fell silent and stared. Standing on a ridge, silhouetted faintly by the moon and stars, was a girl, certainly not out of her teens. Lit by the firelight, her hair flashed like the flames themselves, but even that red light couldn't take the icy glow from her amethyst eyes. Held casually between two fingers was a Card. 

"Hiya, boys," she said. "Mind if I join the celebration?" 

There was a nervous mutter among the Digimon. The monkey glared at all of them. 

"What is the matter with you all?" he snapped. "It's just a human - not even a full grown one!" 

"But she's got a _Card_," one of them said nervously. 

"I don't care if she has a whole deck of them! She's still one little girl against a dozen Ultimate Digimon," the monkey retorted. "I'll bet she doesn't even know how to use the thing! She's probably waving it around just because she knows it will scare you. It's a good thing I'm smart enough to know better than to-" 

The rest of what he was saying was lost as the girl gave a shout of command and flourished the card. It emitted a burst of flame that engulfed the monkey and burned him to a pile of dust before he could take his next breath. The other Devas stared. 

"Now that I have your attention," the girl said, "I'll tell you who you're dealing with. The name's Ruki Makino, the greatest Cardmage alive. Not that you're going to be needing to know that after I'm done with you. 

The campground went into instant chaos. A few of the Devas turned tail and ran. Those few who stayed to fight fired off bolts and spheres of energy, and Ruki dodged them all easily with a few swift gymnastic maneuvers. When they refused to relent, she produced a new card and flourished it, causing a nimbus of violet light to flare around her and lift her off the ground. She hated wasting the power on cretins like these, but it was so much more economical than wasting the whole night trying to fight them by conventional means. 

"All right, you want to play rough? Try this on for size!" 

Ruki flipped out a fresh card, marked with a bright red arrow, and twirled it through her fingers. Instantly, it began to gleam with red-orange flames which formed themselves into spears of light, raining down on her enemies. Those who were on the forefront were instantly reduced to dust. The rest decided that they didn't care to tangle with her anymore and began to run off into the forest, but even that wasn't enough to stop her. She had no mercy towards these unnatural creatures, and they were followed by balls of fire for as far as Ruki's power could reach. The last monster to leave was the rabbit, who lingered at the edge of the forest, his eyes flickering from the light of her magic. They met each other's gazes for a moment, and she was surprised at how much determination and intelligence she saw there. Then he dashed into a shadow and vanished. 

*_That one's going to try something,_* she thought. *_I've seen that look before; he's going to try an ambush._* 

She shrugged. It was no great thing to her, if he wanted to waste his time laying traps for her. She'd handled ambushes from trickier things than him and lived to tell about it, so she simply resolved to keep an eye open for him and went to inspect the loot. 

As she'd suspected, most of the things the Devas had collected were technomagical in nature - not the kind of thing _she_ was interested in, but it would fetch a pretty penny in the right markets, and she could think of quite a few people who would be interested in these items. 

More of it was weaponry, some mundane, some more advanced, and she browsed the selection carefully. She'd been wanting a new sword - hers was hardly fit to cut bread anymore, and worn mainly for show. Digging through the pile of odds and ends, she sorted out the best of the lot and inspected them more closely, testing the weight and sharpness. In the end, she selected one, a slender silver blade with an amethyst-studded hilt. The scabbard was equally beautiful, marked with more silver and amethysts as well as gold, showing a fanciful depiction of some sleek animal running with the wind, ears pinned back and long tail streaming. She'd never seen such a beast before, but it was beautiful, and she liked it, so she clipped it to her belt and tossed the old one into the heap of rejects. 

Next came the Cards. As she had expected, there were quite a few of them, some of them rare and powerful, kept wrapped neatly in special paper and bound up tightly. Ruki looked them over briefly to make sure there was nothing immediately dangerous in the decks before slipping them into an enchanted pocket where they'd be safe from thieves. She might be a thief herself in some ways, but at least she knew what she was doing and trusted herself not to accidentally blow something up by playing the wrong Card. She looked over the more ordinary ones, pulled out a few of the spells she was running low on, and put the rest in a box to be sold. 

Now, what else was there? A few things she couldn't immediately identify, though they looked to be largely mechanical and therefore of no interest to her. Computers had their uses, but they weren't much good to someone like her that needed to travel light and fast and have her results instantly. She'd just as soon leave them here for someone else to find, rather than trying to salvage and sell them, though she might move them inside one of the more structurally sound ruins so they'd still be in halfway workable condition when that someone found them. 

Then her eye fell on a small wooden box, one whose elaborate metal trappings made it glimmer in the light of the bonfire, and she was intrigued enough to have a look inside. More than likely it just had gold or jewels or perhaps even more Cards, but it wouldn't hurt to check. 

However, what she found inside was not at all what she'd expected. The box contained a number of small devices, plastic and metal boxes small enough to fit comfortably in a person's hand. Each had a window ringed with a different color: red, blue, green, orange, brown, purple, bright pink and paler pink. The devices were settled into little niches, each of which was marked with different pictures or symbols in an old, arcane language Ruki only half-understood. She stared at them, trying to puzzle them out. She could spy a few familiar words like "guardian," "healer," and "warrior," and the rest made no sense at all. She looked at the blue device. The symbol over it said "acceptance." 

"Well, I'll accept this as a windfall, thank you very much," she said, pocketing the device. On a whim, she took the box and hid it under her cloak as well. She could look into having the symbols translated and see if any sense could be made of them, if only to satisfy her own curiosity. 

"Hey," said a little voice. "Are you done looking yet? Because I'm really tired of being in this cage, culu. Can I please come out now, culu culu?" 

Ruki jumped. "Who said that?" 

"I did, culu!" 

"And who are you?" 

"I'm Culumon!" 

"Well, that makes a lot of sense," Ruki muttered. "A Digimon. Well, this is just my lucky night, isn't it?" 

She followed the voice and soon found the cage that the rabbit had been guarding. Inside was a tiny white Digimon who stared at her with wide green eyes. As he caught sight of her, his ears unfolded widely, making him appear almost three times his original size. 

"Hi!" he said. "Are you going to let me out now, culu?" 

"I don't see why I should," said Ruki disgustedly. "Digimon and humans are natural enemies. Don't you know that?" 

"Uh-uh," said Culumon, shaking his head and making his ears flap. "Everybody's my friend, culu!" 

"Not mine," Ruki replied. "I'm alone. Always. Got it?" 

"Nope," said Culumon. 

Ruki shook her head. "Oh, you're just hopeless! Why do I bother talking to a Digimon, anyway? They don't understand anything... What are you doing in this cage, anyway?" 

"Because they put me here," Culumon replied, "and nobody's let me out yet, culu." 

"Well, gee, that explains a lot," said Ruki, rolling her eyes. "So, there's nothing special about you at all? You sure don't look like much. Do you have some kind of superpowerful attack or something?" 

"No," said Culumon. "I never fight, culu. I don't have any attacks, culu." 

"None at all? You are a pointless Digimon, aren't you?" Ruki answered scornfully. "Then again, I guess if you can't fight, there's not much point in keeping you in a cage. You sure aren't going to do any damage, anyway. And it'll be one in the eye for those other stupid Digimon, and they deserve it. Here." 

She picked the lock on the cage door and pulled it open, and the little Digimon hopped out, laughing with the joy of being free again, prancing around in a silly little dance. 

"All right, all right," said Ruki. "Enough of that. Go on, get out of here! Go do whatever it is Digimon do in their spare time." 

Culumon looked up at her, his green eyes wide and innocent. "But I want to stay with you, culu!" 

"No, you don't. Didn't you hear me the first time? I'm a lone warrior. I travel by myself. No one else. And I hate Digimon, so you should be thankful I'm being nice to you instead of blowing you to bits." 

"Awwww...." said Culumon. His ears folded themselves up again, and he hung his head sadly. 

"Don't try that. I'm not going to pity you. Go on, scat!" 

Culumon scatted, unfolding his ears and simply floating away like a cloud. Ruki watched him go, shaking her head. 

"The weird things I do," she muttered. "Oh, well. At least he won't be hanging around and bugging me all night. Now I can get on with the important stuff." 

With a final shrug, she turned her attention back to the rest of the treasure. She'd need to sort and gather it as quickly as possible. Those Devas would be back looking for her and her loot, and she would need to be far away when morning came. Resigning herself to a sleepless night, she tugged her gloves on more tightly and went to work. 

~*~

Years ago, the ruins might have been a beautiful city, but these days, there was hardly anything left worth looking at. Buildings that had once gleamed with glass and lights had now been reduced to empty shells, most of them rusted and collapsed. Some had sizeable holes in them left by Digimon who were expressing their displeasure with having to share a world with human beings, or who simply wanted these structures out of their way. No human had lived there in ages, and the only ones who traveled through it were adventurers or thieves, and even those preferred not to move by night if they could help it... and yet, someone was there. 

Though he was standing at the center of a small grove of trees, perhaps the remnant of an old park left over from the time when this was a safe place for children, he didn't appear to be making a great effort not to be seen. He was clothed in head to foot in pure white, making him stand out sharply against the pre-morning gloom. The light of a thin moon reflected off his pale garments, giving them a ghostly glow, and the trappings of a sword glittered at his side. His face was hidden by a deep cowl, but his eyes flashed from beneath the hood, glinting like cold steel. He leaned casually against a tree for a while, looking alert and watchful but still as a statue, then began pacing silently back and forth. He was waiting for something. 

Suddenly, there was... something, nothing that an ordinary person would have noticed, perhaps nothing more than a change in the wind or the tiniest sound of rustling leaves, but it made the man snap to attention. He stared into the shadows, his hand moving swiftly toward his sword. As he watched, a Digimon stepped into his sight, staring down at the human with its unblinking red eyes. The human relaxed. 

"Antieramon," he said. The voice was that of a young man, but with the calm authority of someone with power. "You're late. I expected you here hours ago." 

The rabbit-Digimon bowed his head. "My apologies, lord. We encountered unforseen difficulties." 

"Our master is not interested in apologies, Antieramon," the white-robed man said. "He wants results. Where are the others? Where is Makuramon? I would think he would want to come and brag about his victories in person. Or did he send you here to take the blame for his mistakes for him?" 

"Makuramon is dead, my lord." 

There was a brief silence from the man. "Dead? I'm not surprised; there have been times I've wanted to throttle him myself. How did he manage to get himself killed?" 

"There was a Cardmage. She came upon us suddenly in the night and attacked our camp while we were celebrating. We were caught by surprise and unready for battle. She destroyed Makuramon in a ball of fire when he questioned her abilities at magic. The others fled or attempted to fight. Those who fought, perished. The rest escaped with only moderate injuries, at worst." 

The hooded man nodded slowly. He was not particularly surprised at this development; in his opinion, Makuramon had been a terrible leader, and with the way he bragged, it was only a matter of time before some brash young adventurer came along to call his bluff. Antieramon was a far better officer - intelligent, loyal, and down-to-earth, with none of his former commander's boastfulness or cowardice. He'd delivered his report simply and honestly, neither trying to cover up mistakes or lay any blame. Makuramon would have said it was all the fault of his followers and that it was only through his clever leadership that any were still alive, whether it was true or not... but he was gone now, and good riddance. Funny coincidence that it had been a Cardmage, though. 

"I see," said the young man. "And what of... our objective? I assume you were successful if you were celebrating?" 

"Successful to a point, my lord. We were able to find our master's desired acquisition, but when we were attacked, we had no time to gather anything. If we had stayed, we surely would have been killed. I lingered long enough to see what the mage would do, and I believe she will take at least some of the treasures with her." 

"She?" repeated the man, sounding mildly interested. Whether it was because of something inherent in their makeup (as many believed) or simply because nobody bothered to teach them, female Cardmages were a rarity bordering on mythological. The man himself was only personally acquainted with one who had any ability to speak of, and that was only because the lady in question was so closely associated with his master. She would never interfere with the master's plans, so it would have to be someone new and different. Cardmages of any sort were few and far between as it was, and the idea of meeting one who was female, unfamiliar, and powerful enough to take out a number of Ultimate Digimon with such facility that the rest of them had fled in fear was intriguing. 

"Yes, my lord," said Antieramon. "It was definitely a female human. I'm not good at judging human years, but I would say she was close to your own age. Her hair was the color of fire, and she carried a sword as well as her Cards. Her movements were those of a seasoned warrior." 

"Did she give a name?" asked the man, thinking that anyone who was so obviously formidable wouldn't be able to resist showing off a bit. 

"She called herself Ruki Makino." 

The eyes under the hood glittered. "Ruki Makino is a legend. Mothers tell their daughters stories about her to wile away winter nights. Are you telling me your gang was attacked by a fairy tale?" 

"My ears are seldom wrong," answered Antieramon, a hint of danger creeping into his voice. "I know what I heard. She called herself Ruki Makino. Whether or not she was telling the truth is impossible to say." 

The hooded man considered. "How many of you are left?" 

"Myself, and five others." 

"Half of you gone, then," he replied. "I think I do believe you, and her. There aren't many Cardmages of any sort who could finish off six Ultimates at one go. Add in the fact that she's female and redheaded and young and a swordsman... there's no one else she could be. Ruki Makino... This complicates matters." 

"Do you have orders for us, my lord?" 

"Yes. See to it that the injuries of the others are cared for. Then track down this Makino girl and give her a taste of her own medicine. If she's carrying the Master's property, it must be recovered. If she's not, she'll still be out of our way, and we can return to the campsite and search for the treasure at our convenience." 

"And if she is able to destroy us before we destroy her?" 

"Hold yourself in reserve. By the power of our master, I appoint you the new leader of the Devas. Conduct the battle as you see fit, keep yourself and the others as safe as you can, and report the results back to me. If you can get the treasure back, I promise I'll see to it that a little extra is added to your cut. Fair?" 

The rabbit-Deva bowed. "I am honored, my lord. I shall do as you command." 

He straightened again and went bounding off into the night, and the hooded man nodded his approval. The creature didn't waste any time, a trait that his superior found admirable, if only in a grudging way. Like any human being raised in that age of the world, he had a deep-seated distrust of those unnatural creatures, the Digimon. Yet, for some strange reason, he felt a weird sense of kinship with this one particular creature - nothing strong enough to make him feel any real affection for it, but something along the lines of what he'd feel for a distant cousin, someone he had very little to do with but would still feel moved to defend if the need arose. He didn't understand it. There was no reason why he should feel anything but disgust and fear for these creatures. He only tolerated them because they were his master's creatures, and even that was only because he knew that rendered them harmless to him, not because of any loyalty he felt to his master. If anything, he found the mage as reprehensible as the creatures he served him. 

*_If all goes well, maybe I'll be done with this soon,_* he thought, gazing in the direction Antieramon had gone. *_I just wish this Ruki person hadn't decided to get in my way. I came so close! Why did she have to come and delay things now, when I was so close to finishing?_* 

He turned his gaze toward the stars, as if he could read the patterns of his fate among their constellations. Then, with a deep sigh, he resolutely looked away from their silvery lights, walking back into the shadows and letting them enfold him once more. 

~*~

The first fingers of morning reached through the tree branches to touch the face of a young lady who walked swiftly up a much-abused road. She had made good time since last night, and was only just now starting to relax with the coming of the sun. Digimon seemed to distrust its bright light, and its appearance was her cue to stop the near-run she had been keeping up for the last few hours and walk at a more leisurely pace. She paused at the side of the road to adjust the weight of her luggage; even items stored in magical pockets could become heavy after a while. 

"Maybe I should have left more of this stuff behind," she muttered. 

There was no answer but the rustling of leaves. The quiet reassured her, so she decided to take out a bottle of water and have a well-deserved drink. Ever since leaving the campsite, she'd been listening and watching intently for any signs that the remaining Digimon were following her, planning an ambush, but so far, she'd seen nothing but a few birds and forest animals. She uncorked the bottle and drank deeply - after all, it had been a rough night, and she was starting to tire. As she tilted her head back to get the last few drops, she spotted something moving in the tree above her. She jumped, tossing aside the canteen and drawing her sword in the time it took to blink. 

"All right!" she challenged. "I see you up there spying on me! Back for more, huh?" 

"More of what, culu?" said a voice innocently. 

Ruki sighed and sheathed her sword. "Nothing. What are _you_ doing here? I thought I told you to go away." 

"I did, culu," he answered, "but I got lonely, so I came back." 

"Oh, great," muttered Ruki, rolling her eyes. "What do I look like? Some kind of babysitter for stray Digimon? Go find someone else to look after you - you know, your _own_ kind." 

"What kind is that, culu?" answered Culumon, blinking his huge green eyes in puzzlement. 

"You know! Other Digimon!" 

"Why?" 

Ruki's temper was rising. "What do you mean, why?" 

"Why would I want to go to them? They're mean, and they pick on me, culu. I want to follow you." 

"Well, you can't follow me! I'm a human. You're a Digimon." 

"What's the difference?" 

"Um... well, humans all look the same pretty much, and they do magic and make machines and Cards and stuff, and they live in Cities together, and Digimon are all different and have just a few attacks instead of magic, and... well, there are lots of differences and I don't feel like explaining them all. Especially to you," Ruki finished in disgust. "Why do I need to give you a lecture, anyway? Get away from me, or I'll explain with one of my Cards. Understand?" 

Culumon stared at her, ears twitching in puzzlement. "What's wrong with you, culu? Don't you like me anymore?" 

"No," Ruki ground out. "I _never_ liked you." 

"Then why did you let me out of the cage, culu?" 

"Because I felt like it," answered Ruki. "That doesn't mean I like you. I _hate_ Digimon, so there." 

"Culu? Do you hate him, too?" 

"Huh?" 

Ruki spun around and saw Antieramon standing a few yards away, regarding her with his solemn expression. 

"You again!" she exclaimed. "What, are all of you in a conspiracy or something?" 

"I heard you shouting," answered Antieramon quietly. "I have very good hearing." 

"Yeah, I'll bet," Ruki muttered. "I figured you'd show up sooner or later, but I thought you'd be a little smarter about it than this. Are you going to challenge me to a dual or something?" 

"No," Antieramon replied. "I want to talk to you first. Perhaps we can settle this peacefully... but we must talk quickly. I told the others I was only scouting ahead - they'll be here soon." 

Ruki narrowed her eyes. "Why would you want to settle this peacefully? Afraid of getting blown up like your boss?" 

"Makuramon was an idiot," answered the rabbit bluntly. "I prefer not to fight if it can be prevented... and I do not believe you truly understand what you've wandered into. I admire your courage and skill, so I'm going to give you a chance to get out now, before you wander into something you can't handle." 

"Was that a threat? Listen, buddy, I took out your friends and I can do the same to you." 

"Yes," said Antieramon, "but can you take out my master as well?" 

"Depends. Who is he?" 

The rabbit's ears drooped. "I am forbidden to say. It is a closely guarded secret. I can only say that he is very powerful, and dealing with powers more powerful still that I barely comprehend." 

"Hm," said Ruki thoughtfully. She liked a good fight, but she wasn't stupid enough to go tangling with things she didn't understand. Then again, this could be a bluff. "All right, rabbit. Let's hear your spiel. Convince me I shouldn't blow you sky high right now." 

"Very well. We are not any ordinary gang, and our treasures are not ordinary loot. Admittedly, some of it was simply taken for monetary value - Makuramon was greedy as well as foolish, and knew he would get the greater share of whatever was left when the master had taken his pick. However, there was also... something else, something of _peculiar_ value. The master will take it back at any cost. Even if you destroy us, he will find something more powerful to send against you. Unless you give it up willingly, you will be running for your life from this point onward. I have authority from my lord to get it back by any means necessary. Give it up without a fight, and I promise you can have whatever else you like from our treasure trove. If that is not enough to satisfy you, we can get more in due time. Just hand over the item, and we will agree to any terms you like." 

"What is it?" asked Ruki. "It must be worth a lot if you're willing to go through all that trouble for it. Besides, what would a Digimon want with any of that stuff except to make trouble?" 

"My master," said Antieramon, grimacing as if the very thought was painful, "is not a Digimon." 

"What?" Ruki exclaimed. "Then who-?" 

"You found her!" shouted a distant voice. "Hey, everyone, up here! Antieramon has found her!" 

There was a sound of pounding feet, and Ruki glared at the rabbit-creature with ice in her gaze. 

"So that's your game," she said. "Distract me long enough to let your buddies catch up to me, is that it? I should have known better than to think a Digimon would make deals!" 

"No, it's not like that," Antieramon protested, but it was too late. 

The other Devas had arrived, bursting onto the scene with a group of multicolored fireballs as their forerunners. Ruki was only just barely able to dodge, and the close proximity of the trees and the potholed state of the road made maneuvering difficult. She leaped out of the way of the blasts and landed awkwardly, stumbling on the rough pavement. Warily, she assessed the newcomers: a rat, a dog, a chicken, a bull, and a sheep, besides this strange rabbit creature. They were already circling her, and she realized that she wasn't going to have a lot of time or space for spellcasting. 

"Well, let's see what this sword is good for," she muttered. "Okay, fellas, who's first?" 

In reply, the bull gave a roar and charged at her, preparing to trample her with his heavy hooves. She jumped out of his path and slashed at him, striking sparks off of his armor as he passed. The blow seemed to annoy him more than hurt him, and she scowled; it wasn't fair of Digimon to put on armor like a human! She turned her attention to the nearest creature, the sheep, dodging horns and hooves as well as the attacks the other Digimon were throwing at her, slashing and stabbing wherever she could find an opening. She managed to land a strike on the sheep's flank and watched in satisfaction as it began bleeding bits of data. The rat pounce at her, trying to wrap her in its spiderlike legs, and she hacked at them. One of them came off and flew through the air, evaporating in mid-flight, and the mouse gave an earsplitting scream and released his hold. She wiggled away just as she felt the tip of the bull's sword skim past her, leaving a small rip in her shirt, but thankfully not in her skin, and she grimaced. At the rate she was going, finishing off this battle was going to take all day! If only she could get their attention away from her long enough to cast a spell... 

"Hey, look at that!" she said. 

Naturally, nobody turned around - after all, that trick had been around since the days when computers were still made out of vacuum tubes, or maybe even longer than that. However, the solemn rabbit had been keeping a lookout, and his sharp eyes seldom missed anything. 

"Look out!" he shouted. 

Everyone looked - too late. Even as they turned to see what was going on, a young man with a flashing sword came running down the hill and leaping into the fray. With considerable skill, he carved his way across the battlefield to Ruki's side. 

"Need some help?" he asked. 

"I've got it covered now," she replied, casually sheathing her sword. 

"Huh? But I-" 

Before he could finish protesting, Ruki pulled out a card depicting a blaze of red fire, twirling it expertly through her fingers before shouting a word of command and throwing it into the monsters' midst. It exploded far more effectively than any bomb, throwing out plumes of fire that reached only for the Digimon warriors but didn't even ruffle the leaves of the trees. All those closest to the blaze were consumed instantly. Those further away were struck by flying sparks that stuck to their fur and grew steadily until the conflagration finally overwhelmed them even as they tried to run away. Only the watchful rabbit managed to survive by springing up into the treetops, out of reach of the flames. He looked down at them with his usual serious expression. 

"You will regret that," he said softly. 

Ruki met him with her cool stare. "Was that a threat?" 

"That was a warning," he replied. "We will meet again, Ruki Makino." 

With that, he leaped up into the canopy, hardly disturbing a leaf with his passing. 

"Wow," said the unfamiliar swordsman. "That was kinda weird, wasn't it?" 

"Trust me, you don't know the half of it," Ruki replied. "Anyway, I didn't really need your help, but I guess you were useful." 

"Um, yeah," said the young man, looking somewhat bewildered. Up close, Ruki could see that he was probably close to her own age, and had untidy blonde hair that appeared to be kept in check mainly by a pair of goggles, perhaps used to protect his eyes in a battle. "Hey, you aren't quite what I was expecting." 

"What _were_ you expecting? A damsel in distress?" Ruki answered with a grimace. "Gimme a break. Those died out centuries ago. These days a girl has to know how to protect herself - and I can do that better than anyone." 

"Oh," he said. "But you were being attacked..." 

"Yes, but the battle is over now," she replied, "so you can go away now, okay?" 

"I just got here!" he protested. "Hey, you sure you're okay? Those Digimon looked pretty ugly, and they were giving you a hard time. You aren't hurt or anything, are you?" 

"No, I'm not hurt. Of course I'm not hurt - I'm Ruki Makino," she said, in an "Of course you've heard of me," tone of voice. She was met by a blank stare, and she sighed. "I'm a Cardmage. Quite possibly the world's best, so I don't have to worry too much about Digimon." 

"Oh," said the swordsman. "I'm Takato Matsuda. I'm a mercenary, these days. I used to live in Electrode City, but these days I'm mostly a wandering mercenary, because... well, never mind. Anyway, nice to meet you, Ruki." 

She sighed, giving up the fight. "Charmed, I'm sure." 

"Whee!" said a voice from above, and Culumon came dropping to the ground, parachuting with his huge ears. He landed in front of Ruki and gazed up at her worshipfully. "That's the second time today you've saved me, culu! You must really like me! Can I stay with you now, culu? Please?" 

"Another Digimon?" Takato exclaimed, striking a defensive posture. 

"That's Culumon," said Ruki resignedly. "I freed him from those other Digimon last night, and now he won't stop following me around. He says he doesn't have any attacks, so I guess he's harmless." 

"Cool," Takato said. "You know, I don't normally say this about Digimon, but he's actually sort of cute. Hey, there, little guy. I'm Takato." 

"Hi!" Culumon greeted cheerfully. "Are you going to follow Ruki, too?" 

"It kinda looks that way, doesn't it?" Takato replied. 

"No," said Ruki. "Look, I'm... on my way to New City." 

New City was the largest metropolis on the continent, the only known city that had been successfully built over the ruins of one of the old cities. It was _the_ place to be for anyone interested in Cards, technomagic, or other forms of magery, making it a logical place for Ruki to want to go. It was also several days' journey away, with some hazardous terrain between here and there. Only the very brave or the very foolish would want to follow that road... 

"Great!" Takato enthused. "I always wanted to go there. I bet they've got more job openings for me than Electrode did. I'm never going back _there_ again, that's for sure. Can I come along? It might be useful to have someone to watch your back." 

"I can't pay you," Ruki lied. "I don't have the money for a merc right now." 

"That's okay. I'll come along for free. Even if you are a great Cardmage - and I'm sure you are," he said quickly, as he saw her eyes narrow dangerously, "it never hurts to have someone to watch your back. You heard what that Digimon said. He's going to come back, probably with friends. Probably when you stop to sleep and won't see him coming." 

"Hm," said Ruki. Much as she hated to admit it, the swordsman had a point. She wouldn't put any trick below a Digimon, and that rabbit appeared to be clever and quiet enough to sneak up on her while she wasn't looking. It _would_ be useful to have an extra pair of hands around - he could handle the work of grunt fighting so she'd be free to practice her magic. Of course, it would be nice if he weren't obviously so thickheaded, but why look a gift horse in the mouth? "Oh, all right, you might as well come." 

"All right!" cheered Takato. 

"Yay!" Culumon squealed, running around in joyful circles. He began singing a ridiculous little song, stopping only when Ruki whipped off her cloak and wrapped him up in it. 

"I _will_ throw a spell at you if you keep that up," she informed him. "Only reason I haven't done it yet is that I don't want to waste my Cards." 

Takato had already started up the road. He paused to look back at Ruki and her small charge. "Hey, are you two coming or not?" 

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Ruki called back. Under her breath, she muttered, "I didn't even really _want_ to go to New City. Now I'm stuck going to New City with a baby Digimon and a brainless swordsman. How do I get myself into these messes?" 

Resignedly, she pushed her tired feet into a run so she could catch up to Takato. 

~*~

Travel that day was uneventful. Ruki couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad one - she didn't like the feeling that something malicious was possibly out there, waiting to make its move. Also, for the first few miles, she thought she was going to go crazy from listening to Culumon and Takato's good-natured efforts to try to make friends with her. Neither one of them seemed to be able to take a hint, even when she told them both bluntly that she was antisocial by nature and didn't care for company or conversation. Eventually, she just gave up and went along with it, finding that if she kept them talking about themselves, they didn't ask so many questions about her. 

"I've lived in Electrode City all my life," Takato was saying. "I worked with a bunch of other mercs out there, but I had to quit." 

"What for?" Ruki asked. "Did you get in trouble or something?" 

"Not exactly. It just... got too competitive. See, it's one thing to fight if you're doing something good, but I don't like to fight just for the sake of fighting. While I was working there, I had this friend. We'd hang out together and spar a little and joke around - all that fun stuff. We were the best fighters out of all the guards, so we had a little rivalry going on. I thought it was all just a big game, but after a while, getting jealous of me every time I got a good job or a bonus or something, always trying to prove how he was better than me. After a while it got too much for me, so I had to leave." 

"Good idea," said Ruki. "He sounds like a jerk, to me." 

"Sometimes he was," Takato replied, "but he was still my friend. I kinda miss him." 

"What's the point? If he was dragging you down, you might as well dump him," Ruki opined. 

"You don't have too many friends, do you?" 

"No. Why? What difference does it make?" 

Takato shrugged. "If you did, you'd know." 

The trip proceeded in silence for a while after that. Ruki got the distinct impression that the swordsman felt sorry for her, and felt a bit annoyed. What did anyone need to feel sorry for her for? She wondered if Takato was lonely, and if that might account for why he was so eager to be following her. Perhaps he was. She supposed a person could get used to having people around them all the time, even annoying people, like city folk who moved to the country only to find they couldn't sleep for lack of noise. 

By lunchtime, they had reached a town, and Ruki declared it was time to stop, rest a bit, and get something to eat. 

"I thought you said you didn't have any money," Takato said innocently. 

"I don't," she said. She did, but she wasn't about to let him catch her in a lie like that. "But I do have a few things I can sell, and a few good connections in this town. I'll unload some of this stuff, and then we'll grab a meal somewhere." 

"Stuff? Is that why those Digimon were chasing you?" asked Takato. 

"Probably," Ruki replied. "That's how I make my living, see? I track down thieving Digimon, break up their gangs, and take back the stuff they stole. It's a rough job, but the pay is good." 

"Have you got anything good? Can I see?" asked Takato eagerly. 

Ruki considered a moment before nodding. Ushering him off the side of the road and into the shadow of some trees, she took off her cloak and began removing her prizes from her assorted hidden pouches. Takato and Culumon watched with interest as she pulled out objects that appeared to be too large for the confines of the pockets she was pulling them from. Soon she had a sizeable heap of goods lying on the ground before them. 

"Wow," said Takato. "If I were a Digimon, I think I'd steal this stuff, too - no offense, Culumon. What is all this?" 

Ruki pointed out the prizes of her collection - rare weapons and machines, the Cards, and various other small treasures. Takato looked interested, but his gaze kept wandering over to the jeweled box. 

"What's in there?" he asked. 

"Things," Ruki replied. "I don't even know what they are. I just picked them up out of curiosity." 

Takato lifted the lid of the box and peered inside. "You're missing some." 

"I'm carrying one of them," she replied, holding up the blue device. "The other slot was empty when I found it, so I don't know what happened to that one. You can look at them, if you want. They don't seem to be dangerous." 

Since he had an invitation, Takato opened the box the rest of the way and began giving the objects inside a closer inspection, picking them up one at a time to look at them. 

"I like the red one best," he opined. 

"Really?" she asked, her eyes showing a flicker of interest. "Well, that's a coincidence... Can you read the writing on the box?" 

"No. Why?" 

"Because the label for the red device says 'warrior' on it," Ruki replied. "Hm. That's interesting." 

"What are the others?" asked Takato, peering at the labels. "They look like a bunch of chicken-scratch to me." 

"They're not really writing like you know it. They're runes," Ruki explained. "I can't read all of them, myself. That's one thing I want to do while we're in town is get them all translated. Hopefully that will help me figure out what they are." 

"They must do something important, to be kept in a fancy box like this," Takato said. He looked down at the red device, which he was still holding in his hand. "Guess I'd better put this away before I break it or something." 

"No, wait," said Ruki. "I just got an idea. Let me try something." 

She reached into her sleeve and took out a number of clean white handkerchiefs. Then she collected all the devices and placed them in a row on the ground, turning each one face-down and then placing the cloths over them as an extra security measure. 

"Close your eyes," she ordered Takato. "We're going to play a little game." 

"Oh. Okay," he replied, looking somewhat bewildered. 

He placed his hands over his eyes, turning his back on her so she'd be very sure he wasn't peeking. He wasn't quite sure what sort of punishment Ruki would mete out if she caught him cheating at her "game". Behind him, he heard sounds of shuffling, as Ruki mixed up the row of devices. Once they had been suitably scrambled, she ordered him to turn around again. 

"Touch each one of them," she instructed, gesturing at the row of bundles. "Tell me which one feels best to you." 

"They're all going to feel the same, aren't they?" 

"That's what I want to find out." 

Takato did as he was told, cautiously putting a finger to each of the covered devices in turn, acting as if he expected them to bite. When they didn't, he went down the row again, finally settling on one third from the right. 

"This one," he said with confidence. 

"How do you know?" 

"I'm not sure," he said. "There's something different about it. It's warm... like it's alive..." 

She pulled away the cloth and turned it over. "Red." 

"That's the one I wanted!" 

"That's what I thought would happen," Ruki said. 

Just out of curiosity, she tried the experiment herself. She was only mildly surprised when she picked up the same blue device she had chosen earlier. She put back both devices and covered them once more. 

"Let's try it again," she suggested. 

They repeated the experiment a few times more, while Culumon watched with utter fascination. Every time, Takato always chose the red device, while Ruki always chose blue. Once, she substituted a large stone for the red device, just to see what Takato would do, and was surprised to see him get very distressed when he couldn't find it. She was even more surprised when she asked him to find the missing object, and he pointed to her cloak, where the red box was nestled under its folds. 

"What does it mean?" he asked, once he was safely reunited with his device. 

"I'm not completely sure," Ruki answered, "but I think it likes you." 

"Huh?" 

"There's a branch of technomagic called artificial intelligence. It's the study of endowing mechanical objects with consciousness. Nobody's ever gotten very good at it, but there are a few machines and things drifting around that have attitudes. There was a guy back in his village that had a flying machine that would only carry people it liked. If you made it mad, it would buck you off, or leave you stranded in midair for an hour until you apologized." 

"And you think this thing... likes me? Is that good?" 

"Probably. That might be what that weird writing means. Maybe the devices only work for whoever matches the label - like that one was labeled warrior, so it likes you because you're a swordsman." 

"That makes sense. What does yours say?" 

Ruki frowned a little. "I _thought_ it said 'acceptance', but now I'm not so sure. That doesn't sound very much like me, does it? Don't answer that," she added, glaring at Culumon. 

"So, what do you think we should do with these?" asked Takato. 

"Hard to say, since we don't even know what they do yet," Ruki replied. "I definitely think you ought to hang on to that. You never know - it might come in handy. And I'm going to go to the library as soon as we get into town and do some research. We've walked right into a mystery, and I'm not resting until I get to the bottom of it." 

True to her word, as soon as they passed through the walls of the town, Ruki made a beeline for a large and obviously familiar building, striding confidently inside and heading for a secluded nook where she could work in peace. Takato watched her work for a while, but once she got into her work, she either completely ignored him or, if he dared interrupt her, snapped at him. Not only that, but Culumon was attracting a few stares, so he hurriedly left the building and went to buy them all some food. When he returned to the library after an hour's lunch break, Ruki was still reading. 

"Made any progress?" he asked. 

"Enough to have some idea what we're dealing with," Ruki replied, shutting her book. "Have a look." 

She shoved a sheet of paper his way, and he sat down in a nearby chair so he could read in comfort. Culumon hopped onto the table for a closer look. On the paper, Ruki had drawn a rough chart with the colors of the devices, their associated symbols, and the symbols' meanings. Judging by her research, her translations for the red and blue devices had been correct. The others were labeled slave, princess, friend, healer, guardian, priest, and deception. 

"That last one is a little blurry," Ruki explained. "There's no good translation, so I had to take my best guess. It could mean some kind of trap, or a lie, or just some kind of prank or joke. It's a general term for any situation where things aren't what they seem to be." 

"That was the one that was missing," Takato commented. "You think that has something to do with it?" 

"Maybe," answered Ruki, looking rather impressed, as if she hadn't thought he could make that connection himself. "It could just be that the missing one is some kind of red herring. Anyway, I think I've possibly got a better handle on what these things are now. I've been doing a lot of research, and I've decided..." 

"Yeah?" 

"We've found something big." 

"How big?" asked Takato, leaning closer. Culumon opened his ears wider, the better to catch Ruki's every word. 

"Have you ever heard of a mage called Shibumi?" 

"No, not really..." 

Ruki sighed and shook her head. "I didn't think so. Not many people have, unless they've seriously studied magic. He was one of the very first mages - absolutely brilliant, they say, but a little crazy. He was probably the one who invented the Cards, but his real interest was in technomagic. He was famous for his experiments with artificial intelligence. Some of them were so good that they still work even now, but the thing he's known most for was inventing a machine that could open... well, a hole in the world." 

"He could do that?" asked Takato. 

"He could and he did. It was supposed to be his greatest achievement, but instead, it nearly destroyed the world. The door he opened led to the Digital World, the birthplace of the Digimon, and they escaped from their own world into this one..." 

"And nothing has ever been the same since," Takato finished grimly. 

"Right," answered Ruki, nodding. "There was a huge war between the humans and the Digimon, and when it was all over, most of the old cities had been leveled and a lot of the old technology was lost. We had to rebuild everything. With the old sciences gone, a lot of people started using magic to make their machines run now that electricity was gone, and to make Cards to protect themselves. That's why things are the way they are today - all because of one man who wanted to open a gate." 

"Good story," said Takato, "but... what's it got to do with these boxes? You don't think this Shibumi guy had something to do with them, do you?" 

"That's exactly what I think," Ruki replied. 

"But he must have lived hundreds of years ago!" 

"Some of his magic has lasted that long," she replied. "These boxes are incredibly well- modified examples of artificial intelligence technomagic. I don't know anyone alive today who could make them. Besides, nobody writes in this kind of script anymore. Even other mages don't use it." 

"Hm," said Takato. "I'll take your word for it, then." 

"Good. Listen, I think we should definitely keep this quiet," said Ruki. "At least until I figure out what these things _do_. Knowing that Shibumi invented the Cards, I think these probably work with them in some way - see, there's a slot going down the side for them. Other than that... I'll work on it." 

"Do they have a name?" asked Takato. 

"Hm?" 

"Well, if they're so important, they ought to have a name. We can't just go around calling them boxes all the time." Culumon nodded his agreement. 

"All right, then," said Ruki. "We'll call them... Arks, maybe. That sounds better than 'box', doesn't it? Digital Arks." 

"I like that," said Takato. "It sounds right, you know what I mean?" 

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I'm ready to get out of here. I have some stuff to sell, and I haven't even had lunch yet!" 

"Culumon and I saved you some," said Takato, offering her a bundle wrapped in a napkin. She gave him a look that might have almost been appreciative. 

"Maybe I underestimated you, kid," she said. "Come on, let's get out of this dusty old library. I have some _real_ work to do." 

~*~

Ruki's business in the town was profitable, and put her in a good frame of mind. By the time she was done, the sky was already beginning to turn golden in preparation for the sunset, and she declared that she and her followers would stay within the safety of the city walls instead of trying to travel any further by night. They booked two rooms in a comfortable hotel and settled in for a well-deserved sleep. At least, that was what they tried to do, but as so often happened to adventurers, things didn't prove to be as simple as they planned. 

At first, Ruki slept well. She was used to wandering the wilderness and sleeping wherever she could hole up, within caves or propped in trees, trusting to her magic and quick wits to keep her safe from roving Digimon, and it was nice to have four solid walls around her and a soft mattress to sleep on. She was also very tired after her sleepless night and all the walking and fighting. Very soon, she had slipped into a dream. 

It was a very strange dream. She dreamed she was an animal, the same gleaming golden creature that ran across the scabbard of her sword. In the dream, she was running as fast as she could go, and that was very fast indeed, feeling her long tail whipping behind her and the wind pinning her ears back against her head. Every detail of the dream was perfect: the sound of her paws against the dry leaves, the rustling of the trees around her, the way beams of moonlight spattered the ground, the way the cool night air rasped in her throat as she ran. She should have been exhilarated by her own speed and power and grace, but in the dream, she was worried. There was something she had to do, something so urgent that no matter how tired she grew, she had no choice but to run and run and run... 

Ruki woke, gasping for air, just as if she really had been running for miles at top speed. For a moment, she just lay in her bed, trying to get her breathing to steady and mulling over the dream. She did have some minor personal magic besides her skill with the Cards, enough that she did occasionally have a Vision, but she'd never had one so clear and sharp. Most of them were so completely muddled that she didn't usually realize they were true Visions and not dreams until the event they foretold was over and done with. This one had been true and urgent, but what did it mean? Did it have something to do with the sword? The Digital Arks? The Digimon? She couldn't think of any answers. All she had to go on was a vision of a running animal, moving swiftly towards... what? A moment's hard thinking gave her a memory: she'd been running toward a walled town that looked, even in the moonlight, remarkably like this one. 

It was all too much for Ruki to cope with. She didn't like getting mixed up in big things. All she really wanted was to go on being a Cardmage and a minor thief and leave the rest of the world alone. She dragged herself out of bed, heading for the pitcher on her dresser, thinking to have a cool drink before she tried to go back to sleep. However, just as she was reaching for the jug, the level of light in her room dropped abruptly as something leaped onto her windowsill. Ruki knew without looking what it must be. 

Seated casually on the ledge was a Digimon. She was nearly the same height as Ruki, standing upright on her hind paws, but her body was similar to some canine creature, like a fox. There was no debate that this was a she, not a he - everything about her suggested femininity, though like Ruki herself, her femininity didn't make her look weak. Her eyes were intelligent; her stance was proud; her movements were graceful. With the starlight shimmering behind her, she gleamed gold. 

"You came," Ruki said. 

The fox-creature bowed her head. "I did." 

"Why?" 

"To warn you." 

"Warn me? Of what?" 

"Of danger," the golden fox replied. "There is something moving tonight that even I do not recognize, but it feels powerful, and it is looking for you. I thought you should know." 

"Why would you want to warn me? You don't even know who I am," said Ruki. 

"I know _what_ you are. I know your nature. We are kindred spirits, you and I," answered the Digimon. "I am known as Renamon. And you are Ruki Makino, the famous Digimon slayer, are you not?" 

"How did you know that?" asked Ruki, surprised. 

The fox turned her head, as if uncomfortable with the questions. "I am among Digimon what you are among humans - a sorceress. I have some small magical powers. I walk through walls and travel through shadows. I can sense danger, and can tell if a person or Digimon can be trusted. I can change my shape, if the need is great enough. Sometimes I can read thoughts. Tonight I had a dream so powerful that it woke me from my sleep. It told me that there was a red- haired human in this town who needed my help, so I came." 

"Well, you've got the wrong girl," said Ruki irritably. "I don't need your help - or anyone else's. I travel alone." 

"So do I." 

"Then why are you here?" 

"Because I must be," said Renamon. "We are, as I said, kindred spirits. Soul mates, perhaps you call it. We must be together for... whatever is going to happen, to happen. It is fated." 

"I don't believe in fate." 

"I do," Renamon answered calmly. "Sooner or later, you will accept me, and your fate. Until then, I will be watching from the shadows." 

Before Ruki could say anything more, the fox faded out of sight, simply disappearing into the darkness like a puff of smoke. 

"Where did she go?" asked Ruki, scowling in consternation. 

In her experience, Digimon simply did not do that - it took a fairly high-order mage to simply vanish into thin air, and she'd never heard of a Digimon having magical powers besides their own innate abilities. Thinking she must have simply been confused by the darkness, she stepped closer to the window, peering out into the gloom in search of the runaway Digimon. For what purpose, she was unsure - of course she didn't want to talk to her any longer... or did she? She must be more tired than she thought, even letting ideas like that cross her mind. She rubbed at her eyes and stared into the alley outside. Yes, it was as she thought: the fox was still lurking around out there... 

No, wait. Something didn't look right, and Ruki looked more closely. There was something light-colored out there of the same general shape and size of the fox-mon, but its movements were all wrong. It was - there was no other word for it - creeping, a ludicrous thing to do considering how visible it was. When it stumbled over a stray bit of garbage, Ruki was convinced that this was definitely not Renamon she was looking at. She knew with certainty that all of Renamon's movements were as graceful as flowing water; she would never do anything as undignified as trip. As the stranger righted himself, Ruki caught a glimpse of flashing metal, marking the location of a sword. 

"A human, then," she muttered. "And not a good one, either, I'll bet. Maybe I should look into this..." 

She frowned, thinking hard. Renamon had warned her that there was something powerful moving around tonight... but she had also admitted that she was capable of shape-shifting. Was it possible that she would take the form of an enemy to convince Ruki she was under attack from unknown enemies, so that the fox-mon could offer her services as a protector and try to win her trust so that she could... what? Who knew how these Digimon thought? This was the second Digimon today that had offered help and vague warnings. What were they plotting? 

"Just this once," she mused, "I'm glad I've got some help." 

Moments later, Takato was being dragged from his bed before he was even fully awake. 

"Wha's goin' on?" he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes. 

"Some guard you are, if you can't even get out of bed in an emergency," Ruki muttered. "Look, even Culumon's more awake than you!" 

Sure enough, Culumon was already up and alert, looking around eagerly for the source of the commotion. Ruki walked over to him. 

"Do you want to be of some help?" she asked him. 

"Yeah!" he answered eagerly. 

"Good. Go do that little flying around thing you do and see if you can find someone for me. Somewhere nearby is a guy in a long white cloak and a hood. Search him out, watch him a while, and then come back and tell me what he's doing. Don't let anyone see you. Got it?" 

"Uh-huh! Sure!" said Culumon. He unfolded his ears and floated out the window. 

"I thought you didn't like Digimon," Takato commented. 

Ruki gave him an annoyed look. "When I get a tool, I use it. He can move around more easily than we will, and no one will notice him unless he does something stupid. In the meantime, keep an eye on the windows and doors." 

"You think we're in danger?" 

"Almost positive. Better be ready to make a quick getaway." 

"I'm always ready for a quick getaway. You?" 

"Same here." 

They waited a moment, hardly breathing as they listened to the night sounds. Ruki absently noted a cat prowling in the alley outside, someone snoring down the hall, and a distant conversation that was too quiet to be understood. There was no sign of the white swordsman or the golden fox... not like Ruki really cared to see either of them again, but... 

Silently as a cloud, Culumon floated back into the room, looking pleased with himself. 

"Did you find him?" asked Ruki. 

Culumon nodded. "It was easy, culu. He's downstairs talking to someone, culu culu. The innkeeper won't let him come in to look for them." 

"Sounds like trouble to me," Ruki replied. "I want a closer look." 

"Wouldn't it be safer to just leave?" asked Takato dubiously. 

"No," she said. "I'm not walking away now when I don't even know who this guy is or what he wants or what he can do. If he is an enemy, I want to know as much about him as I can before he finds out we're on to him. If he's not, we can all go back to sleep. Follow me and _stay quiet!_" 

With silent steps, they tiptoed down the hall, heading for the stairwell. All the lamps had been turned out for the night, allowing them to move in almost complete darkness. Thus they glided closer to the stairs, pausing at the very top where they could look down into the entry hall. As Culumon had reported, the white-garbed stranger was there, having an argument with the innkeeper. At this distance, Ruki could see a few details she had missed before - a fringe of bluish hair escaping the hood, a glimmer of steely eyes. 

"I just don't like the looks of this," he was saying. "It's just not right to be letting strange men into ladies' rooms in the middle of the night. Not to insult your honor, of course, sir, but-" 

"No, no, you've got it all wrong," answered the man in white. "The young lady is my sister - I'm only looking out for her best interests. She's a very headstrong girl, and lately she's been getting herself into trouble, trying to run away from home and get into trouble. I believe she's talked one of the family guards into helping her make an escape, and I've come to get them both back. The family honor is at stake, you understand." 

"Ah - yes," said the innkeeper, still looking somewhat skeptical. "Pardon my saying so, but I don't see any family resemblance at all. Your, ahem, sister, as I recall, had fair skin and red hair and pale eyes. You look nothing like her at all." 

The hooded man hung his head sadly. "I regret to say that my mother perished when I was still very small, and my father remarried soon after to a young widow. Ruki and I grew up like true twins, though we were only step-siblings." 

"Is this guy a liar or what?" Takato whispered to Ruki. "I've heard more believable stories from fairy-tale books." 

"He ought to become a strolling minstrel," Ruki answered dryly. "Do you want to see me put on a performance of my own?" 

"Can you act?" 

"Better than he can." 

"Well, you're the leader, then," answered Takato with a shrug. 

"Darn right, I am. How about you? Think you can do some ad-libbing?" 

"I think so." 

"Good. All I want to do right now is confuse the daylights out of him. These sneaky-types never do anything if they aren't sure what they're up against, so the longer we can keep him off- balance, the better. Stay up here and wait for your cue." 

Takato nodded his agreement. Ruki almost smiled as she turned toward the stairs, gearing herself for her performance. 

In the next moment, there was a pounding of footsteps, and the innkeeper and the hooded man both looked up in time to see a rather pale and disheveled-looking girl rushing down the stairs. 

"Brother!" she wailed, throwing herself at the stranger and flinging her arms around him. She buried her face against his shoulder, freeing her from having to guard her expression, and pretended to bawl hysterically. 

"What? What the heck are you doing, you-!" the stranger squawked. Quickly, he tried to pull himself together again. "I mean, Sister, are you all right? What happened to you?" 

"He kidnaped me!" Ruki sobbed, pointing vaguely up the stairs. "He told me he was going to help me get away and see the world, and as soon as we were here, he came into my room and - and tried to..." She went back to her fake crying again. 

"Oh," said the stranger, sounding very uncomfortable indeed and apparently very conscious of the innkeeper's gaze resting on him. "Well, it's all right now, um, Sister. I'll just take you home now, and-" 

"It's not true!" Takato bellowed, charging down the stairs. "Whatever she says, it's not true!" 

Ruki sneaked a peek at him and had to throttle down the urge to grin in spite of herself. She'd been fairly certain that anyone who'd worked as a guard would know how to act suitably threatening, and with him shouting a the top of his lungs and recklessly waving a sword around, the poor masked stranger was looking quite overwhelmed. 

"I did not touch this girl! You can't prove it!" Takato ranted. "She's the one who lured me away! She told me she'd pay me a king's ransom if I helped her get off your godforsaken little farm and took her to the city, and this is how she repays me! Making false accusations, trying to get me thrown in jail! And _you_ helped her, didn't you?" he shouted, waving his blade at the stranger, who nearly dropped Ruki as he jumped away. 

"Now, hold it just one minute!" said the stranger, turning angrily on Takato. "I don't know what you're trying to pull, but this has gone far enough!" 

"Don't you act innocent with me! I know what you're doing! Telling her to run away from home like that, so you could follow after her - to rescue her, you said! Ha! That's a load of baloney. You just wanted an excuse to run away with her! Sister - that's a good one! You're just a junior guard from the warehouses, and don't try to claim otherwise! Trying to run away with your master's daughter!" 

"What?" the stranger yelped. "What are you talking about? Are you two both insane?" 

"You're the crazy one!" said Ruki, whirling on him and glaring as if she wouldn't dare come within a yard of him and certainly as if she hadn't been clinging to him as if he were life itself just moments ago. "You're a sorcerer, that's what you are! Laying confusion enchantments on both of us! Consorting with Digimon! Don't think I haven't seen you at it! Look, there's one now!" 

She pointed up at the balcony, where Culumon had come out for a better look at the proceedings. The innkeeper gasped with alarm, but that was hardly interesting compared to the hooded stranger's reaction. Even from within his deep cowl, Ruki saw his steely eyes go wide, and she was sure she saw a look of triumph cross his shadowed features. However, the looks everyone else in the room was giving him made him think twice about hanging around any longer. 

"All of you are crazy!" he said in disgust. "You may think you've outsmarted me, but I'll be back! The Master will be served!" 

With that, he swept out of the room and disappeared into the night. Takato sheathed his sword. The innkeeper simply stood and stared, looking from the open front door to the sorceress and the swordsman, who ignored him. 

"That was some good acting," said Ruki. "You caught on better than I thought you would." 

"Well, you said we ought to confuse him," Takato replied. "My old friend was always good at making a scene - I guess I learned it from him. I even confused myself!" 

"He won't be back for a while, I don't think," Ruki mused. "At least not until we've hit the road again. He'll be more careful next time, though..." 

"Who _was_ that man?" asked the innkeeper querulously. 

Ruki shrugged. "Nobody I know. Takato?" 

"Never met him before in my life," he replied. "Man, I'm tired. That acting takes it out of a guy. Think we've got time for a few more Z's?" 

"Good idea. Let's get some sleep," Ruki replied. 

Acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, the two of them walked back upstairs to their rooms. 

~*~

In the shadows of a back alley, the man in white was mentally berating himself. How had he let himself be thwarted so easily? He'd been just moments away from convincing that fool of an innkeeper to let him find the girl so he could finish his job, and she had beaten him with nothing more than a few word games! Did fate just not want him to complete his mission? ... No, he wouldn't let himself think that way. He would just have to take more precautions next time. 

Steeling his resolve, he took a small bottle from an inner pocket of his cloak and uncorked it, letting a single drop fall from its mouth into a murky puddle on the ground. The drop seemed to fall in slow motion, shimmering with a light that had nothing to do with the thin moon and starlight. It struck the water with a tiny, musical ping, sending ripples of light across its surface. Within seconds, the puddle was lit completely with a soft blue glow. 

"Master, your servant calls," he said softly. 

The water rippled faintly. Now he could see something in the water, a dark silhouette of a man. "I hear you. What have you to report?" 

"I have located the girl, Ruki Makino," answered the hooded man. "She is, at the moment, staying in a small inn. I have attempted to detain her, but she somehow knew I was coming and was able to elude me, but..." 

"But what?" 

"I did find Culumon." 

"Well. That's something," said the voice from the water grudgingly. "For that, I won't punish you... yet. My patience is wearing thin. I want that creature captured and brought to me as soon as possible - no excuses!" 

"It will be done," answered the hooded man. "And when I do...?" 

"You will have your freedom, as promised." 

"And my family?" 

"Exactly as we agreed. Now, go away. You're interrupting something important, and I don't have time to sit around listening to you ask the same question over and over. Go away and get your job done... or at least leave me alone." 

"Yes, master," said the man in white. His voice was faintly grudging, but the vision in the water ignored him. It slowly faded out until it was only a muddy puddle again. The man sighed deeply and put the potion away. 

"I'll get you for this, Ruki Makino," he said. "For keeping my freedom and my family from me... If I can't get revenge on _him,_ I'll take it from you." 

With that thought in mind, he wandered off in search of a place to sleep. He didn't notice that, high above his head, a sleek golden shape was gliding silently after him. 


	2. The Man In White

**

The Man in White

**

**By: SilvorMoon**

The sun had risen on two humans and a small white Digimon trudging slowly up a road. At least, the humans were trudging - Culumon soared along as if he hadn't a care in the world, hardly minding that his human companions were being less than companionable. Despite their interrupted night, the group had risen before sunrise, bolted a quick breakfast, and set out before their unknown enemy could try to find them again. Now they wandered silently along a thin road - hardly more than a cart path, really - trying to keep themselves out of sight. Takato appeared to still be sleepy, but he walked along with the stolidity of one who is used to working at less than full strength and no longer really cares. Ruki was wide-awake, and since her companions were being mercifully quiet, she used her time to mull over some of what was going on. 

Foremost in her mind was a sense that somehow, against her will, she had stumbled into something big. Ruki didn't like that at all; she'd never wanted to get involved in earth-shaking matters. It was bad enough being a famous Cardmage. All she wanted was to choose her own roads, pick her own battles, pick up enough treasure to keep her safe and reasonably well-fed, and leave the rest of the world alone. Was that really too much to ask? Why did Fate seem to want her to get mixed up in this strange situation? 

And what _was_ her situation, anyway? Somehow, she'd acquired an unwanted bodyguard (*_At least,_* she thought grudgingly, *_he seems to be able to take care of himself. If he was completely useless, I think I'd go insane._*), a small white Digimon that apparently couldn't do anything but fly around and sing silly songs, and a box of what might or might not be powerful magical items. She also seemed to be followed by a fox-Digimon and a strange man in white. She wasn't sure which worried her more. 

Perhaps it was the Digimon, after all, because she turned her mind first to the man in white. What had he wanted, coming after her in the night like that? Was he a thief, coming to steal her treasures? She'd kept them as well hidden as her small magics could make them, and anyone with magic enough to see past her hiding spells was probably good enough to make money some other way. She wondered briefly if the confusing stories they'd concocted of lecherous soldiers might not be completely fictitious; she had been troubled by that kind of character in the past. She might not have been a raving beauty, but she knew she was no cow either, and some of these lone wanderers weren't very particular. Even the fact that she was the most powerful Cardmage in the known world didn't always discourage them. After all, she didn't _look_ that dangerous. Even if she could convince people that she really was that powerful, that didn't guarantee they'd leave her alone. Some men even seemed encouraged by this, as if that made her some particularly tempting trophy to win over... or maybe they believed that stupid old legend that powerful magic went with a corresponding boost in other abilities. At least, she thought it was a legend; she'd never bothered to find out for herself. 

Ruki thought hard. Somehow, the strange man didn't quite seem to fit that description. He'd been looking for something very specific, so specific that he knew her name and what she looked like, and had come in with an elaborately prepared story in advance. What did she have that was _that_ valuable that someone would track her down in the middle of the night to get? It had to be one of the items she'd stolen from the Devas. She remembered the way his steely eyes had flashed when he'd caught sight of Culumon. She remembered Antieramon saying, "My master is not a Digimon." Ruki had stolen the fox sword, and Renamon had appeared - appeared to warn her about the man in white... 

*_I wish I knew if I could trust her,_* Ruki thought. *_I shouldn't trust her. I mean, come on, she's a Digimon! They can't be trusted, not any of them... but she came to warn me. She could have hurt me, easy - just look at how she moved! Like smoke on the wind... I never could have hurt her... and she didn't hurt me. She didn't even try. She just said what she had to say and left, and it saved my life, maybe. Definitely saved me a tough fight. If she was in league with _him_, she wouldn't have warned me. Why did she warn me? Could there really be a connection between us?_* 

She closed her eyes, trying to recollect her meeting with the golden fox down to the last detail. Even though the day was warming rapidly, she shivered. 

*_She was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Could anything that beautiful be evil? Even when I was afraid of her, I couldn't take my eyes off her..._* 

She shook herself away from that thought. She could go crazy, thinking things like that. It was only tiredness and starlight, and, perhaps, some of the sorceress-Digimon's magic, that had made her feel drawn to the creature. Surely if she saw her by the light of day, she would be only another monster. But even as she told herself that, she couldn't quite make herself believe it. Her Ark had come with the label "acceptance." Just what was she supposed to accept? 

Why had the Devas been keeping Culumon in a cage? 

"Hey, Ruki, you okay?" asked Takato. "You look kinda distant." 

"Just thinking about stuff," Ruki replied. 

"Yeah, same here," said Takato. "Got any good ideas yet?" 

"No," said Ruki. "Just lots of questions. How about you?" 

"I've got a good idea. Let's get off this road and see if we can find some game trails or something. It won't be as hot, and we'll be less likely to be spotted." 

Ruki's eyebrows raised. "That is a good idea. You know, you're not what I thought you would be." 

"You were expecting a brainless swordsman?" he asked. "If I were stupid, I'd have had my head cut off by now." 

"Could be," said Ruki. "All right, swordsman! Let's see you hack through some of this shrubbery! Find us a game trail!" 

He gave her a salute. "Yes, ma'am!" 

Secluded in the treetops, the man in white was mightily relieved that his quarry had finally decided to move to somewhere that he could keep track of them. It had been very annoying trying to track them without being seen, and invisibility spells were not his specialty. He much preferred to have them here in the forest where he and his lone spy could watch them more efficiently. 

"Antieramon," he said, "watch them for me. I'm going to go have a word with our master." 

"As you command," answered the rabbit-Digimon. 

The man in white leapt from his perch and floated gently down to earth; he might not have the aerobatic skills Anteiramon did, but he could Levitate well enough to get up and down trees. As he hit the ground, he thought he heard a soft _whoosh_, as if something else had come down with him, but when he looked, there was nothing there. He looked up. Antieramon was still where he'd left him, and not a leaf was stirring in the canopy. 

*_Someone invisible?_* he wondered. *_Or just my imagination?_* 

He closed his eyes, trying to find any traces of a magical aura that would indicate someone invisible was nearby. It was unlikely, but the man in white had only stayed alive this long by not taking chances. All he felt was the distant presence of the female Cardmage, the quieter presence of her companions, his sense of Antieramon above him, and... what? Nothing in particular, just a smallish life-force as of some animal or a Digimon. 

*_Some little forest creature, then,_* he thought, relaxing. He still couldn't see it, but he knew roughly where it was now, and knew how powerful it was: not very. He even thought it felt friendly, so he decided to leave it alone. He had better things to do than chase after wild animals. 

A short distance from the tree he'd been roosting in, there was a tiny stream, scarcely more than a water-filled gully through which the contents of some hidden spring threaded their way through the forest. He knelt next to it and allowed a drop of his sparkling potion to fall into it. Almost immediately, he found himself looking into the face of his master - or rather, a dark shadow that had the shape of his master's face. 

"There you are," he said brusquely. "It's about time. What have you been doing?" 

"I have been obeying your orders," said the man in white. "You told me to find the girl again and find out where she's going. I have done as you commanded. Now what?" 

"You can't be keeping a very close watch on her if you are here talking to me." 

The man flushed behind his mask. "I have Antieramon keeping watch. I have complete faith in him." 

"Humph. I never thought I'd see you bestowing such a high compliment on a Digimon. I am not sure that is a good sign." 

"He's the only one of your Devas that has managed to hang onto his life. I'd say that makes him worth something." The man's eyes flashed like steel from beneath his cowl. 

"Are you implying," said the shadow in the water, "that my creations are to blame for this situation?" 

"I am not implying anything. I'm saying that the girl is moving north by northwest through the Forest of Verdure right now, roughly in the direction of Axle Village. What do you want me to do about it?" 

"Nothing," the shadow snapped. "Take yourself and your trusted servant to the ruined library outside the village and wait for me there. I will give you further orders when I am ready to do so. Is this understood?" 

The man bowed, leaving his master a view of nothing more than the top of his white hood. "Yes, my lord." 

The shadow did not reply. It simply ceased to be, and when the man in white looked up again, it was only to see the trickling stream and waving water-grasses. 

"Boy, what a jerk!" 

The man in white jumped, nearly falling in the creek. A completely unfamiliar voice had just given a succinct description of his own personal feelings, and he looked around to see who had spoken. His eyes registered a paler patch against the green of the forest canopy, and he looked up to see an unidentifiable animal sitting on a branch above him. It looked down at him with black eyes that sparkled with mischief. 

"What did you say?" asked the man slowly. 

"I said, that guy's a jerk," the Digimon replied. "He's got even less manners than I do, and that's saying something!" 

The creature grinned, a conspirational expression that invited the man to join in, and to his surprise, he found that he really was smiling, if a bit wryly. 

"You're obviously an excellent judge of character," he said. 

"Sure am!" said the Digimon, preening and tossing his long ears. "Why were you talking to that guy? He's not your master, no matter what you call him." 

The man in white did a double-take. The Digimon in the tree continued to grin and look innocent. 

"You really _are_ a good judge," the man said at last. 

"You're just easy to read," the Digimon replied. "'Course, if you wanna go around pretending to be something you aren't, that's your business. Me, I am what I am. Nothing else!" 

"And what might that be?" 

"Terriermon!" the creature replied, taking a bow that made his ears flop around. "And _you_ are the guy who hasn't laughed in three years." 

The man in white was surprised all over again. "How did you come up with that?" 

Terriermon shrugged. "Isn't it obvious? It's all over your face, and I can't even _see_ your face. When it doesn't rain in too long, the lake goes all flat and dead looking, and when people don't laugh in too long, their eyes go all flat and dead looking, just like yours." 

"You're too smart for your own good," said the man. "If I haven't laughed, it's because I've had too many serious things to worry about to trouble myself with laughing." 

"Humph!" said the little Digimon. "Laughing's more important than anything! You and your boss need to figure that out, or you're both gonna get in a lot of trouble. Maybe I don't want to be around when you do. Bye-bye!" 

He twirled in place and rose into the air like a flying machine, disappearing into the treetops. The man in white just stared. 

*_Three years,_* he thought. *_He called me the man who hadn't laughed in three years. It was three years ago, almost three years ago today... How did he know?_* 

~*~

Axle Village was hardly more than a bump in the road, as far as villages in that world went. They didn't even have a wall around them to keep marauding Digimon out; indeed, one would wander into the town once in a while, but it had never done enough damage for the townsfolk to think putting up a wall was a good idea. Instead, all they had was a place where the farmhouses were clustered closer together, a communal well, a small marketplace where people could trade vegetables or horses or any odd bits of technomagic that might surface in their neck of the woods. There was also a minuscule common house, just large enough to house three travelers, or maybe six if they didn't mind sharing beds or sleeping on the floor. It also had the town's one and only restaurant, so it was inevitable that Ruki, Takato, and Culumon should find themselves walking through the door beneath the sign of the Jumping Wormmon. 

The place was duly jumping when they got there; after all, it was lunchtime, and this was the only tavern in town. They barely managed to fight their way in, with Culumon dodging frantically among the heavy booted feet of the establishment's patrons. A barmaid with a talent for lip-reading took their orders and found a place for them at one of the few remaining tables. 

"Here you go," said Takato, scooping Culumon out of harm's way and setting him on the tabletop. "Can't let you get stepped on." 

"Why not?" asked Ruki, but not with the bite it would have had a few days ago. After all, she rationalized, Culumon had pulled his own small weight in the confrontation with the man in white. She wouldn't let herself think that perhaps she was starting to like him. 

"Hey, you wouldn't want him causing a riot in here," said Takato. "Imagine what would happen if one of the people in here stepped on something, and looked down and saw a Digimon. They'd panic!" 

"True," said Ruki, nodding. "Guess they can't really know this one's harmless. The last thing we need is to get kicked out because of him." 

"Especially when we haven't even eaten yet," Takato agreed. "This place is really pretty nice. They used to have a place kind of like this back in Electrode City. Just this little hole in the wall - you had to know it was there to find it - but they made the best food you ever tasted. Kazu and I used to go there all the time..." 

"Kazu?" 

"Hirokazu. My friend." 

"Oh," said Ruki. She could see that Takato looked unhappy at being reminded of the friend he didn't have anymore, but she wasn't quite sure how to take his mind off the subject. Fortunately, their food arrived, which proved a good distraction. He looked a bit more cheerful after he sampled his meal. 

"Just as good as home," he said. "How's yours?" 

"Pretty good," she said. She slipped the pickle that had come with her sandwich under the table, where Culumon ate it happily. 

"You know, I just realized," said Takato, "I talk all the time about Electrode City, but you haven't said a thing about your home. I'm starting to think you just sprouted up like a mushroom." 

Ruki shrugged. "There's not a lot to tell, but if you really can't stand not knowing... I was born in a town south of here, called Silicon Village. My father was a landed knight, and my mother was the daughter of a local nobleman. She was the most beautiful woman in the village." She said this without boasting, but only with the air of a longtime resident pointing out a local wonder to a newcomer, thinking that their guest might be interested, though they themselves have ceased to care. "It was a nice place to grow up. We had good money then, so they could afford to let me get an education. My grandmother who lived with us had some personal magic, enough to teach me a little. My mother was always throwing parties and things, but I spent my time learning magic - they even sent me to a university for a few years to study. It was right after I came home that things fell apart..." 

She trailed off, her violet eyes looking dark as storm clouds. Takato was very quiet, and Culumon crawled onto her lap and stared at her with wide eyes. She tucked her hand over him as if he were a lap dog without really thinking about what she was doing. 

"My village had been having hard times for a while - not enough rain, or too much, or the frosts coming too early, or everything getting destroyed by hailstorms or lightning fires. I never really paid much attention to that kind of thing, because Mom and Dad could always afford to import anything we needed. After a while, though, even that got to be difficult. Then one day, a big tribe of Ogremon came out of the woods and raided the town looking for food. All the people in the town who could fight came out, and my dad was right in the front. He fought, and the Ogremon killed him." 

"I'm sorry," said Takato quietly. 

Ruki shrugged. "Anyway... things were rough. Mom was all broken up over dad being gone. Meanwhile, she didn't have much money left after everything was sorted out, and she didn't have much way of getting any more. They hadn't really saved much, and funerals cost money... I told Mom I didn't want to stay in the village anymore, and I was old enough to take care of myself - I was a pretty fair Cardmage by then, and I have a few personal spells. I said if I left, it would be one less person to have to feed and clothe. Besides, it would be easier for Mom to get married again if she didn't have any inconvenient kids around. She didn't have much choice but to agree, so I left. I've been on my own ever since." 

"You mean you haven't gone home in all that time?" 

"Once. Went to see my mom get married to the Duke of Something-or-Other. I didn't get to talk to him long, but he seems nice enough, and he'll take good care of my family." 

"I guess that's comforting," said Takato. 

The conversation flagged, and the two of them picked at what was left of their food in silence, heads bowed over their plates. Then they were jerked out of their thoughts by a glassy clatter. The barmaid had come by their table and plunked a pair of goblets in front of them. 

"We didn't order this," said Ruki. 

The barmaid shrugged. "Man over there sent them to you, with his compliments." 

She waved vaguely off at the far corner of the room. There was a booth back there, where the lamplight had trouble going, and seated at the booth was a single man. He was dressed simply in black and white, with no trim or designs of any sort, but his clothing caught the light in a way that suggested silk. Takato blinked in surprise; silk was ridiculously expensive, more than its weight in gold sometimes. You did not simply wear it around unless you were so rich that you'd already run out of more practical things to spend your money on. Yet, a nobleman would be wearing jewelry - at the very least, a signet ring or a brooch to hold his cloak in place - yet his only ornamentation was a pair of dark glasses. Nevertheless, he carried an air of command around him. If he had turned around at that moment and ordered Takato to go out and fight his enemies for him, he would have jumped up to do it without hesitation. But the man did not order Takato to go and fight. He simply nodded in his general direction and made a vague twitch of his fingers, inviting the swordsman and the sorceress to join him at his table. They did. 

"Imagine meeting you here," said Ruki coolly as she took her seat. 

"Just imagine," the man answered quietly. Somehow his deep voice carried over the din of the bar. 

"Do you two know each other?" asked Takato, looking from one to the other in confusion. 

"No," said the man, "but one magical practitioner always knows another... and it's so rare that I find one in this little place that I thought I'd invite you over and have a word." 

"I don't find them out here often myself," said Ruki. "I'm surprised to find one of your caliber here." 

"You flatter me," answered the man with a thin smile. "But you are correct; I seldom come here at all. I would not be here now, except that I am on the trail of a particularly pernicious sorcerer. My sources tell me he is in this area, so I have come to have a closer look." 

"I haven't seen any sorcerers lately," said Ruki. "Other than you, anyway." 

"He would not be calling himself such," the man replied. "He is also adept at disguising himself and his nature. He would not want anyone knowing what he truly is." 

"Wait a minute," said Takato, earning the glares directed at someone who is butting into a conversation that is none of his business, "would this sorcerer of yours dress all in white and wear a mask?" 

"So you have seen him, then," the man replied. 

"He's a sorcerer?" asked Ruki. "For crying out loud, why didn't he just come through the window?" 

"Beg pardon?" the man asked. 

"Oh - nothing." 

"Hm. It seems you've already had a taste of the kind of trouble he is capable of causing... but only a taste, for if you'd met the full force of his powers, you would not be here to talk about it." 

"That's what you think." 

"Yes, that is what I think, Ruki Makino, legendary Cardmage. He is playing with powers that have been untouched since the days of the sage Shibumi. He has come upon the Key that will reopen the great seal that is holding back the final horror. You remember that story, do you not?" 

"That's just a fairy tale," said Ruki defensively. "It's not real." 

"It is as real as the Digimon themselves, or as real as you. Legends are based on truths." 

"So you're telling me that the man in white...?" 

"His name is Jenrya," said the stranger. "He comes from a royal family, and yet that power alone was not enough for him. He will take what power he can at any cost, even to the destruction of the world. He has made alliances with Digimon and other dark forces, and his ultimate intention is to resurrect the D-Reaper." 

"So you say," answered Ruki. "All right, maybe I believe you, and maybe I don't. What has this got to do with me?" 

"It is my belief that you may be carrying with you something that Jenrya is seeking. It would be the only explanation for his bothering you. With your permission, I would like to take it off your hands." 

"Thanks," she said, "but I think I'd feel safer if I had it where I can keep an eye on it." 

A fleeting expression of puzzlement crossed the man's face. "You already know what it is?" 

"No," she said. "I don't need to, either, I don't think. You should know as well as anyone that a searching spell is more likely to find something if the person who's carrying it knows about it. Besides, I'm not totally defenseless. I've already outwitted him once without even having to pull out a Card." 

"True," said the man. "Very well. Perhaps that will be best. If he is devoting his attention to you, I will have a better chance of catching him myself without being detected... What is that?" 

"Huh?" said Takato. He looked down to see that Culumon had crept into the seat next to him and was now trying to peek over the rim of the table. "Oh, that's just Culumon." 

"Culumon. I don't believe I've seen a Digimon like that before," said the man. 

"Don't worry about him," said Ruki. "He's harmless. He doesn't even seem to have any attacks." 

"Interesting," said the man. "I have an interest in Digimon. Some of my peers say we are better off leaving well enough alone, but I feel it is best to know what one is up against. I keep a small menagerie of them in my home - with the proper safeguards. Your Culumon would make an interesting addition. I'd pay you well for him, of course." 

"We couldn't do that!" said Takato. "Culumon's our friend!" 

"I wouldn't hurt him," the man replied calmly. "I only wish to observe him for a while." 

"I don't think he'd be happy with that," said Ruki. "Actually, we've gotten attached to him now. He's practically a family pet. We just _couldn't_ part with him now." 

"I see," said the man, looking as if he wasn't quite buying that argument. "Very well, then. It has been nice meeting you both, but I must be going now. Farewell." 

He got up and strode out of the room. Ruki noted with interest that though the bar was still crowded, he slipped past the boisterous patrons with ease. 

"Whew!" she said. "I'm glad that's over. For a minute there, I thought we were going to make him angry." 

"What a weird guy," said Takato. "Why is he wearing sunglasses inside? It's not like there's a glare in here." 

Ruki shrugged. "It doesn't matter to him. Don't you know who he is?" 

"No. Who?" 

"That," said Ruki dramatically, "was Mitsuo Yamaki." 

Takato gave her a blank look. "Um, I know I'm supposed to be impressed, but..." 

"Oh, for crying out loud! You don't know anything, do you?" she said. 

"Not about magic, I don't!" 

"Well, at least you're honest. Okay, here we go. Mitsuo Yamaki is quite possibly the single greatest sorcerer alive today." 

Takato looked skeptical. "I thought you said _you_ were the world's greatest Cardmage." 

"I am!" said Ruki defensively. "It's just that there's different kinds of magic. I'm a Cardmage - I draw my powers from magical Cards, and them from me. I can even make them, when I have the time and materials. Some people have personal magic, and that's different - it means the power is inside them, and they can learn how to tap into the power and make things happen. I have a little bit of that, but not enough to make any real difference. Light-casting, true- dreaming, a little bit of healing if I really concentrate, and that's about it. Then there are technomages - they can't use magic on their own, but they can put power into machines and make them do things they wouldn't ordinarily do. I can't do any of that. But that Yamaki guy, he can do it all, and he does it a heck of a lot better than most people do. Let me put it this way - I _might_ be able to beat him in a Card-battle, but I wouldn't want to try." 

"And what about the glasses?" asked Takato. 

"That's part of the story, about why he's so powerful," Ruki replied. "He's blind." 

"Blind? But I just saw - he gets around better than we do!" 

Ruki shrugged. "Everything has an energy field. Anyone with any personal magic can sense the locations of things by feeling for that energy. He's been doing it all his life; he ought to be pretty good at it by now." 

"And being blind makes him more powerful?" asked Takato. 

"Not exactly. The story goes that he was born with his eyes sealed shut, and nobody could open them. They took him to every healer and mage and sage they could find, but no one could make them open. He started studying magic himself, everything he could find to learn. He studied for years, until he could do just about anything - anything but open his eyes. There's one legend that says he's got so much magic inside that if he opened his eyes, they would just blast everything in sight." 

"Wow," said Takato. "The most powerful sorcerer in the world... and _you_ were mouthing off to him! You must be crazy." 

Ruki shrugged. "Better than acting scared. Are you done eating? Because if you are, I wan to get out of here." 

Takato shrugged and got to his feet. "You know what?" 

"What?" 

"I think that guy wasn't telling us everything." 

Ruki patted Takato on the head. "Smart swordsman." 

They left the village and began traveling again. There was only one road leading out of the village, and Ruki reluctantly took it. She had an uneasy feeling of being watched, and her way of dealing with it was trying to get away as quickly as possible. Her only concession to safety was to roll up her cloak into a small package and sling it over her back, making her less obviously a sorceress. She also mustered up enough magic to throw a small glamour over herself and her companions, just enough (she hoped) to make them appear as being rather poor and insignificant and not at all worth looking at. She wasn't very good at that kind of magic, and even her moderately-talented grandmother could have gotten through it, but only if she could figure out that it was there in the first place. It was the best defense she had, so it would have to be enough. 

"You aren't worried, are you?" asked Takato. 

"Gee, what gave you _that_ idea?" answered Ruki bad-temperedly. 

"Hey, don't get all defensive," said Takato. "I'm worried too. Even with you to explain stuff for me, I still have no idea what's going on." 

"We're in the same boat," Ruki answered. "I don't know what's going on either. I keep going over and over it in my head, and I still can't figure out..." 

"What?" 

"Anything." She sighed. "I hate not knowing what's going on. If I knew what it was, I could fight it." 

"At least we know who's after us," Takato offered. "And some of what he wants." 

"Maybe," said Ruki. "That's if we trust Yamaki." 

"And you don't?" 

"The stories say he's powerful. They never said anything about him being honest." 

Takato nodded. "I don't trust him, either. If he really wanted to help us, he would have told us more." 

"That's what I think, too. On the other hand, I don't like thinking we've got him as an enemy. I hate to say it, but as far as power goes, he outranks me, big time." 

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Takato. 

Ruki shrugged. "Try to keep out of trouble until we know more about what's going on." 

They walked quietly for a while longer, watching carts roll by without their drivers seeing them. Culumon floated along like a dandelion seed, teasing the horses, who only flicked their ears as if he were an annoying fly. That relieved Ruki a bit; at least her flimsy spell was holding. 

"Hey, Ruki?" said Takato after a while. "Mind if I ask another stupid question?" 

"Shoot." 

"What's a D-Reaper?" 

"_The_ D-Reaper," answered Ruki. "There's only one, if there's any at all. There's no real proof that there ever was such a thing." 

"Well, what is it?" 

"Hm. Hard to say. I've heard a bunch of different legends about it, and they don't all agree with each other," said Ruki, frowning a bit. "The way my grandmother used to tell it, when Shibumi first opened the hole between the worlds, the humans and the Digimon got along pretty well with each other - they weren't enemies like they are now. Then one day, the D-Reaper came through the gateway and started attacking our world. Nobody seems to know what it looked like, only that it was bad - worse than any Digimon, even. I always kind of thought it looked like an Ogremon," she added, as an afterthought. 

"What happened? How did they get rid of it?" asked Takato. 

"The story goes that the humans and the Digimon fought against the D-Reaper, and a lot of them died, but no one could hurt it. In the end... well, the story goes that there were four sort of super-Digimon, what the other Digimon called the Digital Gods. They left the Digital World to battle the D-Reaper themselves, but even they couldn't really kill it. In the end, they sealed it away and hid it somewhere where it would never be found again. Unfortunately, it cost them all their strength to do it, and they disappeared. 

"The Digimon were furious; they blamed the humans for waking up the D-Reaper and making them lose their protectors. The humans blamed the Digimon for leading the D-Reaper into our world and letting it kill so many people. Nobody could ever prove where the D-Reaper had come from, so the argument was never settled. War broke out, and the tribes of the humans and Digimon separated forever. That's why we're enemies even now." 

"Wow," said Takato. "You know, that's kind of a sad story." Culumon nodded his head in agreement. 

"Guess so," Ruki answered. "Anyway, the story says that the D-Reaper is still sealed up somewhere, and a lot of people believe it. I actually found an old lawbook at the Academy spelling out the kind of punishments to give people caught trying to wake it up again." 

"Why would anybody want to do that?" asked Takato. "I mean, if it nearly destroyed the world..." 

Ruki shrugged. "Some people are just weird. They're so arrogant, they think _they're_ the one powerful enough to control it. Or they're just academics who want to figure out how to do it just for the sake of knowing. I heard one old guy claiming that the D-Reaper was a digital monster and would only destroy Digimon, and that bringing it back would rid us of the Digimon forever." 

"And what do _you_ think?" 

"I don't believe it exists. Handy legend to have around - makes sure there's nothing around to prove it ever did or didn't happen, and it explains neatly why we have a bunch of sentient animals out to kill us all for no good reason." 

"Oh," said Takato. "I wonder what our friend in white thinks? And Mr. Yamaki?" 

"So do I," said Ruki. 

"Perhaps I could tell you," said a voice. 

Ruki and Takato jumped in unison. They weren't thrown off-balance long, though; almost before their feet hit the ground again, they both had their swords in their hands and had instinctively positioned themselves back to back. 

"Who said that?" Ruki demanded. "Come out and show yourself!" 

In response, there came the lightning-cold prickling feeling that rushed through the air when a spell was dissolved, and they found themselves looking at a familiar man in white and a very tall rabbit. Culumon gave a squeak and dove out of sight. 

"We meet again, Miss Ruki," said the man coolly. 

"So we do. Nice to see you, Mr. Jenrya." 

The man in white's eyes flickered briefly. "I won't even ask how you found out my name. You are a meddlesome thing. It is unfortunate for you that I am having a bad day, and that I am very tired of people knowing things about me that I didn't tell them." 

"Are you going to fight us, then?" asked Takato. 

"Only if you decide to make things difficult," Jenrya replied. "All I want from you is that Digimon that's been following you around." 

"Digimon?" Ruki repeated. "Like... Renamon?" 

Jenrya blinked. "Renamon? What's a Renamon? Don't try to confuse me; it's Culumon we're after." 

"Well, you can't have him," said Takato. "Not you, or anyone else!" 

"Don't be stupid. Humans and Digimon mean nothing to each other. Surely you won't give your lives for a monster." 

"Culumon is not a monster," Takato insisted. "He's a _good_ Digimon. Right, Ruki?" 

Ruki hesitated for an instant. Could she agree to that? Granted, there didn't seem to be any harm in Culumon - he actually seemed to like her, and did what was asked of him willingly. He was so childlike, so innocent, that it was hard even for her skeptical nature to believe he was faking. And she was starting to wonder if maybe she had been a little misinformed when she'd been told that all Digimon were evil... 

"I'll tell you one thing," she said. "I trust Culumon a lot more than I trust you. I figure he must really be something important if everyone I meet wants him. I think I want to keep him, thanks." 

"Then you'll be keeping him for the rest of your life," said Jenrya. "That will be about fifteen minutes. Begin." 

There was a pale flash as Antieramon bounded straight into the air and began to drop. Takato and Ruki jumped in opposite directions, just barely avoiding being squashed as he landed. The rabbit immediately leaped toward Takato, producing a double-bladed axe out of nowhere and engaging him in a sharp battle. Ruki found herself face to face with the steely-eyed man, who was now carrying a steel sword to match. She quickly made a strike at him, only to have it parried. He glided smoothly out of the way, giving her just enough time to recover herself. Then he lunged, and she gave a swift twist and a counterstrike. Their swords clanged off each other, the sound making an irregular counterpoint to the other battle that Ruki could hear and not see. Ruki didn't like the situation; she was holding her own, but she was being rapidly herded away from Takato and towards whatever place her enemy wanted her to go. 

"I'm impressed," said Jenrya. "It's not often I meet a Cardmage who has bothered to learn hand-to-hand combat as well." 

"It's come in handy a few times," she said, ducking as his blade whizzed over her head. 

"I suppose it does. After all, a girl wandering alone is bound to get into trouble if she doesn't know how to defend herself," said Jenrya, just barely sidestepping one of Ruki's attacks. "Is that why you're traveling with a bodyguard now?" 

"What, that puppy? He followed me home one day and I thought I'd keep him," said Ruki, deftly deflecting her opponent's latest strike. 

"You're good," said Jenrya. "Very good. I know men who don't handle a blade as well as you." 

"You're not half-bad yourself." 

"You can't see, because I'm wearing a mask and hood," said Jenrya, "but I am smiling right now." 

"Let me guess," said Ruki. "You're not left-handed." 

"Actually, I'm not, but that's not the point." 

"Oh? Then what is?" 

"This!" 

With a sudden swift movement, Jenrya slashed his sword past her. It just barely missed her skin. It did not, however, miss her belt, and it was severed neatly. The leather pack she carried her Cards in fell to the ground. She gave a yelp of dismay and tried to reclaim them, but a sword thrust in front of her face made her rethink that idea. Jenrya moved around her, stepping between her and the lost Cards. Ruki fumed inwardly. She was more than adept with her sword, but her real talent was wrapped up in that leather package. Without her Cards, she was... not helpless, but certainly not fit for fighting even a modest sorcerer. 

"What's the matter?" she taunted. "Afraid to face me in a fair fight?" 

Maybe the insult stung him a little, for his eyes clouded briefly. 

"I've stooped this far; I might as well stoop to cheating now," he said. 

He sounded so patently unhappy that Ruki was startled. She might not have completely believed he was what she'd been told he was, but it had never crossed her mind that he might not be doing what he was doing by his own choice. 

"Huh?" she said. "What are you talking a-" 

That was as far as she made it. The warrior in white made a quick hand motion, and she abandoned talking for the moment and turned to try to get away. With her Cards, she perhaps could have defended herself; now all she could do was try to run... 

The spell was faster than she was. It wrapped around her in a heavy cold blanket, smothering her, making it impossible to move or breathe, and her head spun. No matter how hard she fought, she could not make her body take another step or another breath, and she slumped to the ground. Jenrya stood and stared at her a moment, making sure the spell had taken its hold. Then he raised his hands to the sky, casting up a globe of brightly glowing light. 

Some distance away, partly screened by trees, Takato and Antieramon continued to fight. Thus far, the swordsman had proven himself a match for the rabbit-Digimon, but he was uncertain how long he could last. An ordinary sword was little defense against an Ultimate, even in the hands of the best warrior. Takato was beginning to get the impression that his adversary wasn't even trying to hurt him, but only keep him busy long enough that he wouldn't be able to protect Ruki. The idea made him angry - how dare these people just play with him like this? - and he redoubled his efforts. With a wild battle cry, he made a rush at Antieramon, sword raised... and missed entirely, as Antieramon stopped in mid-movement to stare at the sky. Takato overbalanced and fell over, getting a mouthful of grass and dirt. He sat up and looked around, trying to see what was going on. There was a bright light hovering in the sky, as if a large star had decided to make its entrance early. 

"The signal," Antieramon murmured. "I must go now. Goodbye, swordsman." 

He crouched for a moment, and then sprang straight into the air, disappearing amid the trees. Takato dragged himself to his feet somewhat less gracefully, and began looking around. 

"Ruki!" he called. "Ruki, where'd you go? Ruki!" 

No answer. He began to run in the direction he'd last seen her heading, following a trail of footprints and crushed grass. Finally, he came upon her lost Cards and belt. A few yards beyond that was a large hollow among the grasses, as if something human-sized had fallen there. There was no sign of Ruki or the man in white. 

~*~

Ruki woke up with one of the worst headaches she'd ever had in her life, rivaled only by the time someone had tried to teach her how to make a sleeping potion and she'd wound up knocking herself out for three days. This was very much the same feeling - an ache that ran up and down the back of her neck and made her sinuses feel the way they did before a heavy rainstorm, all combined with an unpleasant gumminess under her eyelids. 

*_Sleeping spell,_* she thought. *_Some slimy, Ogremon-kissing son of a Devidramon bitch and a Raremon had the nerve to throw a sleeping spell at me!_* Politeness was not one of her virtues, particularly when she woke up with a headache. 

She tried to stretch her aching muscles and found she couldn't. She sighed resignedly. Of course, whoever had spelled her would have tied her up, too. Wasn't that just her luck? 

"So, you're awake," said a voice. 

Ruki let him know just how awake she was by rattling off a long string of profanities, detailing her surmises about his parentage, what his relationship with them was, what he did in his spare time, and what in general she thought of being spelled and tied up and what she thought ought to be done to him for doing it. There was a long silence in response. 

"I don't even know if some of those things are _possible_," he said at last. 

"I've been told they are, if you know how," she replied irritably. 

She tried to pry her eyes open and found that they, at least, would move, even if her arms and legs wouldn't. It did her very little good, as her new location was very dark, but she could vaguely see a blot of lighter color standing some distance away from her. His eyes still found ways of glinting even in the dark room. 

"Well, obviously you are awake, alive, and capable of carrying on conversations," said Jenrya. "Maybe now we can have a talk without trying to chop each other to bits." 

"I'm not telling you anything while you've got me trussed up like a Mummymon," she said. "Undo some of these ropes, and maybe I'll talk." 

The man in white seemed to consider for a moment. Then he shrugged. 

"All right," he said. "It's not like you're going anywhere, anyway. For one thing, you don't have your Cards, but I still have my magic. For another thing, Antieramon is waiting outside the only exit to keep you from escaping. Try anything funny, and one or both of us will make you sorry." 

"Fine, fine. I know you've got me trapped. I might as well be trapped in comfort," she said. "As comfortable as anyone can be in this place." 

"It's the best I can do," Jenrya replied. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't like it here, either." 

"Then why are you here?" asked Ruki, watching as her captor took out a small knife and began sawing through her bonds. 

Jenrya shrugged. "This is where I was told to come, so I came." 

"So you work for someone else? Who?" 

"You'll find out soon enough." 

That was all the answer she could get out of him. He did, however, cut through all of the ropes and wait patiently for her to rub the numbness out of her hands and feet. 

"Better now?" he asked. 

"Not like you care." 

"Look, I didn't really _want_ to capture you," he snapped. "Do you think I _like_ doing this? You have been given lots of chances to make this all end quietly; if you would just cooperate, everything would be fine." 

"Cooperation doesn't come easily to me," she answered. "I'm used to doing my own thing, and I don't like situations I don't understand. If someone would tell me what's going on, maybe I wouldn't be so uncooperative." 

"What do you need to know? You've been told flat-out: I need that Culumon. All you have to do is give it to me, and we never need to get in each other's way again." 

"Well, I can't give him to you now," said Ruki with a cold glare. "You've gone and kidnaped me. He and Takato are probably miles away by now. Unless you scared Culumon with all that ruckus you kicked up, in which case he probably ran off and hid somewhere." 

"Even if you don't know where he is," said Jenrya, "you have ways of finding him. You've been close enough to him for long enough that some of your magical energy has rubbed off on him. All we need is for you to sit here and wait for my master to come along, and he'll use you as the focus of the finding spell, and we'll have our Culumon by daybreak tomorrow." 

"And just who is this master of yours? And what good is Culumon to you?" 

Jenrya lowered his eyes. "None of your business." 

"Hey, you're the one who dragged me into it!" 

"And you're the one who killed all but one of my soldiers and stole Culumon from me!" Jenrya shot back. "Do you have any idea how I felt when I got that news? I was _that close_ to finishing my mission, you had to come along and ruin it! All I wanted was to finish this thing so I can go back home... to my family..." 

"Your family?" she repeated. "Who are they? Why can't you go home?" 

"It's complicated." 

"You might as well tell me; we've got nothing else to do while we're in here," Ruki pointed out. 

Jenrya sighed. "All right. If that's what makes you happy, I suppose it couldn't hurt." 

He sat down across from her, leaning against the wall. Then, rather to her surprise, he pulled back his hood and lowered his mask. Now she could finally see his face. 

"You're a human," she said. 

"You expected a chimera?" he replied. 

Ruki shrugged. "I thought maybe you were a Digimon, too. You do look kind of like a Sorcerymon in that white robe." 

"I'm a human, all right," he replied. "A noble, actually... or I was. I'm not sure I qualify anymore." 

"Why not?" 

"Well... I guess it started with my father. Maybe you've heard of him - he's Prince Janyuu Lee, ruler of New City." 

"Yeah, I might have heard of him," said Ruki, fighting back surprise. She'd heard rumors that the prince had a son who'd disappeared mysteriously, but she, like most people, had simply assumed that he'd wandered too far into the forest and been eaten by an Ookuwamon or something. "He's the one they called the Peacekeeper." 

"Yes," said Jenrya, nodding. "Not many people know that he was also a great sorcerer. He was a student of technomagic, and he had many of the great Shibumi's papers stored in his palace. He was particularly interested in the study of artificial intelligence, and the old stories about the Gate and Digimon..." 

"Interesting," said Ruki, thinking of the Arks. 

"Anyway, I wasn't much interested in being a king... or a peacemaker. I wanted to be a great warrior, so I used to go out into the forest to practice fighting and magic. Then one day, I met someone who would ruin my life." 

"Who?" 

"The sorcerer Yamaki." 

"What?!" Ruki exclaimed. "But he was - he told me - wait a minute!" 

Jenrya nodded calmly. "He told me that if I would help him with a mission of his, he would teach me the battle-magic that my father never would. And he did, at first. He also asked me questions, learned from me what my father had worked so hard to keep secret - that my father did indeed have the plans Shibumi used to open the Digital World Gate, and the records of what happened afterwards. Shortly after that, he took my father prisoner." 

"Prisoner?" 

"Well, he's not in New City anymore, is he?" 

"I heard he went to the next kingdom to visit a friend there." 

"That's the story they're telling," said Jenrya. "Do you think they'd really let it get out if the prince really had vanished without a trace? The people would panic. No, they're keeping it quiet for as long as they can. My sister is watching the city, for now. She's earnest enough, and she has good advisors, but she's so young..." He trailed off, eyes distant. "Perhaps that's why it startled me so much when you were calling me 'brother'. I miss her so much... and my father..." 

"So now you're working for Mr. Yamaki," Ruki prompted. 

Jenrya nodded again. "He has promised me that if I fulfil one mission for him, he'll return my father back to New City with no harm done to him, and I'll be free to go home. Until then, I either have to serve him or risk letting him kill my father." 

"So if you give him Culumon, he lets your dad go free? Is that how it works?" 

"That's what he says." 

"Why Culumon?" 

"I really don't know," said Jenrya. "I only know that there's something... different... about Culumon. He's not like other Digimon. He has no attacks. From what I've been able to gather, he's been around for years, bet he's never evolved as other Digimon do. He's just... there. Yamaki says he's something special, and that he'll be able to use him to work some kind of great magic. He doesn't trust me enough to tell me what it is." 

"I don't trust him to do anything good," said Ruki. "I'm glad Culumon got away." 

"He hasn't gotten away," said Jenrya. "Not while we have you captive." 

Ruki frowned and didn't answer. She stared thoughtfully out into the darkness for a while. 

"So," she said after a while, "your dad has a lot of information on technomagic, huh?" 

"Yes," said Jenrya guardedly. "What's it to you?" 

"Oh, nothing really," she said. "I was just wondering. So, your dad has it all written down in those books, I guess. That's what I'd do, if I had all that valuable information. Just to keep it from getting lost, you know." 

"It's not all written down," said Jenrya. "He has Shibumi's old papers, but when he was still in the Academy himself, he and some friends did some of their own experiments. He's always coming up with new ideas and telling us all about it over the dinner table... not like we understand it." 

"So there's some information that nobody could get unless your dad told them." 

Jenrya gave her a hard stare. "What are you getting at?" 

"I was just thinking... Yamaki's not just keeping your dad captive to keep you prisoner. There are lots of easier ways for a great sorcerer to do that. On the other hand, there's no place he could get all the information he wants except from your dad. You're useful, but you're not irreplaceable; he could get just about any soldier or mercenary to do what you're doing now. My guess is that he's not keeping your dad hostage just to keep you in line - that's just a little bonus for him. He's keeping your dad captive and alive because he needs to pick his brain for spells. He won't kill him until he's either learned everything he needs to know, or he finishes what he's doing." 

"And if I help him..." 

"Then he'll do whatever he's trying to do, and he won't need your dad anymore." 

Jenrya was silent for a moment. Ruki found herself feeling sorry for him, remembering how she'd felt when her own father had died. At least then, she hadn't been inadvertently helping his killers... 

"Why don't you set me free?" she said. 

Jenrya gave a startled jerk. "What?" 

"Let me go," she repeated. "If you keep me here, you're as good as letting Yamaki win. Is that what you want to do?" 

"I can't risk it," he said, his eyes dark. "If I listen to you and you're wrong..." 

Ruki shrugged. "Well, if I'm right, you can escape. If I'm wrong... well, you'll have given it your best shot, and you'll know you haven't been helping the guy who hurt your father." 

"If I let you go, Yamaki will find something unfriendly to do to me." 

"Not if you come with me." 

Jenrya gave her a thoughtful look. "Is the infamous Ruki Makino, legendary lone warrior, asking someone to come with her?" 

She shrugged and looked uncomfortable. "It's better than staying here." 

There was a moment of silence. Then the quiet was broken by a small rushing noise, as of an animal running along one of the beams over their heads. Then it dropped, and Ruki gave a startled squawk as a Digimon landed only a few inches away from her. 

"Shut up, would ya?" it asked. "He'll here you!" 

"Who will?" she asked. 

The Digimon shrugged. "Some guy in shades. Just thought I'd let you know." 

"Should I know this Digimon?" Ruki asked. 

Jenrya sighed a bit. "This is Terriermon. He was bothering me earlier. I don't know what he's doing here." 

"Looking out for you," Terriermon replied. "If you want to get out of here, I'd suggest you do it now, before old sourpuss gets here." 

That seemed to decide the man in white. He got to his feet. 

"All right, that does it," he said. "When even the Digimon know it's time to get out, it's time to get out. Come on." 

He led Ruki through a series of mazelike hallways, dark with years of dust and cobwebs, and through cracks in the tumbledown walls, Ruki could see that night had fallen. She wondered how long she had been asleep, and where Takato and Culumon were. Finally, they reached the front door, where Antieramon was crouching, filling most of the space. 

"Get up," said Jenrya. "We're going." 

Antieramon looked puzzled. "Has the master changed his orders?" 

"No, I've changed my mind. I'm getting out of here. You can come with me or stay here, I don't care. Just don't try to stop us, and there won't be any trouble." 

The rabbit-Digimon's eyes blinked in confusion. "You're leaving?" 

"Yes. Now, stop holding us up." 

The rabbit slowly got to his feet. As Jenrya, Ruki, and Terriermon began running for the shadows of the forest, the other Digimon followed silently after them. 

"What are you doing?" Jenrya hissed. 

"You said I could come," said Antieramon, "so I'm coming." 

Jenrya stopped as if he'd walked into a tree. "You're following me?" 

"Yes. You've always dealt fairly with me. I have no loyalty towards the master, but I will follow you if you need me." 

"Well, if that's true..." said Jenrya slowly. "Welcome aboard." 

"Great," Ruki sighed. "Just what I need in my life. More Digimon." 

~*~

Takato picked his way slowly through the forest. He hated to admit it, but he was getting very lost. The sun had gone down hours ago, and he'd been walking since sunup. Now he was tired, hungry, thirsty, dirty, and worried. That was the trouble with sorcerers - Takato only had moderate skills in tracking, and wouldn't have had an easy time even if the kidnapper had gone on foot. Chasing something that could fly, or disappear at will... that was a problem. 

"Are you sure this is the right way?" he asked, trying to shove his way past a large, prickly bush. 

"Maybe," said Culumon. 

"Maybe?" asked Takato. "We are walking around in the dark in a Digimon infested forest chasing after a powerful sorcerer, and the best you can do is maybe?" 

"Almost," said Culumon. 

"Huh?" 

"I think she's this way," Culumon answered patiently. "I just won't know until we get there, culu." 

Takato sighed. "Great. That's just what I needed to hear." 

They blundered onward. It was very dark in the forest. All Takato could see were the stars winking through the treetops high above, and the pale white shape that was Culumon floating along in front of him. He had followed all kinds of people in his life, from generals to farmers, but he couldn't recall having ever followed around a baby Digimon, just because there was nothing else to follow. He would have turned around, but what would he do then? He couldn't just walk off and leave Ruki - he actually rather liked her, prickly though she could be. He also couldn't leave Culumon, and the little creature seemed determined to trail after Ruki. 

Takato was mulling over all of this. He was not thinking about where he was going. That was why his foot caught on something large and solid, and he fell over into the leafy forest floor. From that position, he still couldn't see anything but leaves, but from the way his feet were still resting on the obstacle, he could tell it was something very large. It was also moving. 

*_Uh, oh, now I'm in for it,_* thought Takato, reaching for his sword and knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to unsheathe it and get himself into defensive position in time to defend himself. 

The thing he'd tripped on got up and began moving. Takato could hear its footsteps walking around him, and he curled up into a ball, hoping to protect what parts of him he could. His hair was ruffled as something with hot breath sniffed him over. He risked looking up a bit and saw two golden eyes peering down at him. 

"Are you okay?" the thing asked. Its voice sounded like someone rubbing a wet balloon and not at all scary. 

"Yeah, I think I'm okay," said Takato. 

"That's good," said the voice. "Wouldn't want you to get hurt falling on me." 

"Are you hurt?" asked Takato. 

The creature shuffled around in the shadows, checking to see if it was hurt. "Nope!" 

"I guess that's good," Takato said. "I didn't mean to fall on you. I was just looking for a friend of mine who's lost. You haven't seen her, have you?" 

The golden eyes squinted as their owner tried to think. "What kind of friend?" 

"Well, she was a girl, about sixteen, with red hair and purple eyes, and she might have been with a guy all in white and a big rabbit Digimon." 

Head shake. "Haven't seen them." 

"Oh. Too bad," said Takato. 

"I had my eyes closed," the voice explained. 

"Oh," said Takato again. 

"And it was all dark." 

"I see." 

"I might have _smelled_ them, though." 

"Really?" asked Takato. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?" 

"You didn't ask." 

Takato sighed. "Okay. Here, give this a sniff and see if it's familiar." 

He fished in his pack and took out Ruki's severed belt and her pack of cards and offered it to the darkness, and he felt a nose sniffing the objects over. Then a rustling in the bushes told him that his unknown guide was shuffling off into the night. Not knowing what else to do, Takato trotted along behind it. 

*_I don't like not being able to see this thing,_* he thought nervously. *_I bet it's a Digimon... sounds like a big one. I hope it's not leading me off somewhere just so it can eat me - I don't feel like having any more fights today. I'm still sore from fighting that rabbit._* 

As they continued walking, the rustling noises of the unknown Digimon became fainter and further away. Takato tried to keep up, but a large bush, invisible in the darkness, blocked his path. He struggled with it for a while before finally giving up and taking out his sword and hacking it to bits, much to Culumon's interest. A few feet beyond the bush, the forest cleared away, leaving open a small glen full of waving grasses and flowers - a pretty place, and Takato moved gratefully forward with the intent of stopping to rest his feet for a bit. In the moment it took for his eyes to adjust to the bright moonlight, he could see only a vague silvery shimmer of grasses and the more solid shapes of trees and rocks. Then he realized that one of the rocks was colored and shaped a bit wrong, and he jumped. 

"Whoa!" he said, grabbing instinctively for his sword. 

"Yipes!" said the Digimon, and it dove behind a rock - a silly gesture, since a good three feet of tail stuck out in plain view. 

"Oops," Takato said, recognizing the voice. "I didn't know it was you. Come back out - I won't hurt you." 

The Digimon looked out and blinked at him, apparently trying to make up his mind whether Takato was really not dangerous. Takato took a moment to evaluate his newfound friend. It was indeed a Digimon, probably a Rookie level, he guessed, of saurian aspect. It was covered from head to toe with fine red scales, except for a white streak that covered its neck and stomach, and a few decorative black patches. Finlike ears pricked in Takato's direction as bright golden eyes evaluated the swordsman. Its long claws and sharp white teeth made Takato briefly remember that humans and Digimon were supposed to be mortal enemies, but he couldn't quite make himself believe that this thing that was still hiding behind a rock was dangerous. 

"Don't worry," he said to it. "All I want tonight is to find my friend so we can get out of here. My name is Takato, and this is Culumon. What's your name?" 

"Guilmon," the Digimon replied. 

"Guilmon, huh? Nice name. Glad to meet you, Guilmon." Takato offered his hand to shake, and the dinosaur walked out to sniff his hand. Takato laughed. 

"That's not how you do it," he said. "It's like this." 

He reached out his hand and managed to fold it around one of Guilmon's claws and shake it. For a moment, he had the strange sensation of fire against his skin, the same way he felt when he touched the red Ark. The feeling passed as soon as he recognized it. 

"What are we doing?" asked Guilmon. 

"This is shaking hands," Takato explained. "It's a way of showing someone you want to be friends." 

"Do you want to be my friend?" asked Guilmon. 

"Sure. Why not?" 

"I never had a friend who was a human. When humans see me, they yell and run away. I don't know why. Do you?" 

"Not a clue," Takato replied. "Anyway, I hate to rush you, but I really do need to find my other friend. She could be in trouble, so if you could find the trail again..." 

"Okay!" said Guilmon agreeably. He trotted a few feet and turned back to Takato, grinning and waving a claw. "This way! Let's go!" 

~*~

"Let's take a break." 

Jenrya paused at the edge of a small stream and leaned tiredly against a tree. He seemed a lot more tired than just a few miles of walking should have made him, even considering that he had been fighting earlier, and Ruki wondered just how much power he'd put into spelling her earlier. Seeing that he was not going to go any further for a while, the others stopped as well. 

"That's not a bad idea," said Ruki. "I could use a break myself." Actually, she felt fine, other than a lingering headache from the sleeping spell, but her limited magic could tell that her new companion's energy stores were running low. If he was pushed much further, he might pass out. 

"You worn out already?" asked Terriermon, clambering onto Jenrya's shoulder and anchoring himself with one ear. "We haven't gone all that far." 

"I've had a hard day," he said. "Casting sleep spells take a lot out of me - especially casting them on stubborn people like her. If I hadn't put everything I had into it, she would have been up and around in five minutes flat." 

"So instead, you opted to hit me so hard I'd wake up with a headache that would kill a Whamon," said Ruki. 

"Something like that," he said. "Don't complain. That's nothing compared to what I'll do to you if I find out this scheme of yours has put my father in danger." 

"You could always turn back, you know," Ruki said. 

"I could, but I won't," he said. "I am not going back to the man who made a slave out of me, not while I still have a chance for my freedom." 

"Slave?" Ruki repeated. "Hm... Hang on just one second - I just thought of something." 

She reached into the pockets of her cloak and took out the box with the Arks. With her back to Jenrya so he couldn't see what she was doing, she set all of them on the ground and covered them with handkerchiefs. Then she beckoned for him to come and join her. 

"Pick one," she said, gesturing at the handkerchiefed bundles. 

"You got me up to play guessing games?" he asked. 

"There's more to this game than you think. Just touch them all and tell me which one's different from the rest." 

Looking still annoyed but curious, he did as he was told. His hand paused on one of the bundles near the center of the row, and his expression shifted to one of surprise. 

"This one," he said with certainty. "It feels... almost alive... like it's laughing." 

Ruki pulled off the handkerchief. As she'd expected, it was the green device, the one that had been labeled "_slave_". 

*_Well, he's not a slave anymore, not if any of us have anything to say about it._* 

"What does this mean?" asked Jenrya, picking up the device and studying it. 

"It likes you," Ruki informed him. "Keep it. It's yours now." 

Jenrya looked suspicious. "Why are you giving me this? You don't even know me." 

"No, but I do know better than to tangle with big-time magic. I don't know what that thing is, but it's got some heavy-duty enchantments on it. If it wants to stay with you, I'm not going to tell it no." 

"So moumantai already!" Terriermon piped up. "If she wants to give you a present, take it!" 

"Moumantai?" Ruki repeated. 

"Yeah, moumantai," said Jenrya, looking as if he wasn't sure whether to be amazed or annoyed. "It's from one of the old languages. It means 'take it easy'." 

"I know what it means," said Ruki. "I want to know why _he_ knows." 

"Because he's _annoying_," said Jenrya. There was a sparkle in his eye as he said it, however, and Terriermon caught the look and winked at him. Ruki felt a funny shiver run through her. 

*_There's something about these two - I can almost feel it, like electricity, or magic. If a human and a Digimon could - could somehow... __belong_ to each other...* 

She never got to finish the thought. At that moment, there was a fiery crash, which she only got a glimpse of before something large slammed into her and shoved her out of the way. She hit the ground and rolled. As she sat up again, she saw that Antieramon had thrown himself at herself and Jenrya, pushing them and the smaller Digimon out of harm's way. The rabbit-Digimon appeared to have taken the brunt of the explosion; his clothes and fur were scorched. 

"So," said a cold voice. "This is how my servant behaves when my back is turned - running away, stealing my soldiers and my prisoners. How very foolish." 

Ruki turned to look, already knowing what she was going to see. Hovering unconcernedly in midair was the mage Yamaki, arms folded across his chest, glaring down at them from sightless eyes. Even while her insides were twisting at the thought of having to face the most powerful mage alive without her Cards, the back of her mind was playing with the idea of how much energy it would take to sustain a hover-spell like that and still be able to cast a high-level flame spell, and thinking that the sorcerer Yamaki was a showoff. 

"I'm no servant of yours, Yamaki," said Jenrya. "I'm a free man." 

"Possibly," said the sorcerer, "but even a free man has obligations - to his country, to his fellow men... to his family. May I remind you of the price of disobedience, Jenrya?" 

"Go ahead," said Jenrya levelly. He was standing proudly, looking every bit as unconcerned as his former master, the cool image spoiled only by the fact that Terriermon was still sitting on his shoulder. 

"Have you forgotten already that your father's life hangs on your obedience? Or do you think I really won't go through with my threats?" 

"Fine. Go ahead," said Jenrya. "See if I care. It doesn't matter to me. If my father dies, then I'll be king. That suits me a lot better than slaving away for you." 

"What?" That was obviously not what Yamaki was expecting. Ruki felt much the same way. 

*_What is he talking about?_* she thought. *_If he's been lying to me..._* 

As if knowing what she was thinking, Jenrya turned his head slightly, a movement that was invisible to the blind mage but clearly seen by Ruki. Much to her surprise, Jenrya winked at her. 

*_I get it! He's playing the same game I was, back at the inn. Maybe this guy's not hopeless after all._* 

"You heard me," said Jenrya. "Did you think a man with magic and noble blood in his veins intended to be an errand boy for you forever? Now that I know where the Culumon is, I have no more need of you. When I have my father's armies on my side, and the infamous Ruki Makino's magic to protect me, even you won't be able to stop me." 

"You're bluffing," Yamaki accused. "Even if you did know where Culumon is, you wouldn't know how to use his power." 

"Think again. Thanks to my father's studies, I know more about how to use him than you ever will. So go ahead - kill my father if you want to. Right now. I'll even come watch." He waited a moment, and Ruki carefully watched the sorcerer's expression. He appeared to be balking. 

"Well?" asked Jenrya. "What are you waiting for? Go on. You shouldn't make threats you don't want to keep." 

Still the sorcerer hesitated. Jenrya smiled thinly. 

"Just as I thought. You aren't really going to do it, are you?" 

"You have gotten entirely too intelligent all of a sudden," said Yamaki. "I will have to remedy this. I have no use for slaves who get ideas of their own." 

"Uh-oh, now you've done it," said Ruki, grimacing. Once again, she wished desperately that she had her Cards. She drew her sword, but she had a feeling it wasn't going to do her any good. 

"It was your idea!" Jenrya shouted back. 

Yamaki made a gesture, and fire bloomed again. Ruki was just barely able to get out of the way, and through the curtain of flame, she couldn't see where Jenrya had gone. She _heard_ him, however, and in the next instant, there was a flash of eye-searing white light that shot across the stream in the sorcerer's direction. Ruki was impressed; magic didn't handle running water very well. Her new associate had to be good if he could get a spell of any sort across even a small stream. When the smoke and lights died down, she saw Jenrya poised with a Card in his hand. 

*_What do you know, a Cardmage,_* she thought distractedly. 

"Ruki!" he barked. "Catch!" 

He reached in a fold of his cloak and took out a wrapped package of cards, pitching them towards her. She caught them easily and ripped off the paper. She grabbed the first card without looking to see what it was and flourished it. Instantly, fires bloomed and rushed at the sorcerer like wild animals. Ruki smiled faintly. She had always rather had a knack for fire-spells. They wrapped around him and obscured him for a moment, until he shouted words that made them die with a loud crackling noise. He shot a glare in her general direction. 

"You are making life unnecessarily difficult," he said calmly. 

"That makes two of us," she shot back. 

"This is not your fight." 

"Congratulate me. I just adopted it." 

"Very well, then. Allow me to give you a little gift." 

The sorcerer held up one hand, and bright lights began to gather there, forming a shining white sphere. Jenrya shouted again and threw a bolt of lightning, attempting to cause a distraction, but the bolt was waved away like a bothersome fly. It sounded like Jenrya was trying again, but Ruki didn't bother to watch what he was doing. She wasn't sure what the mage was doing, but she had a feeling she wanted to be out of the way before it went off. 

Behind her, Yamaki tossed the ball of light into the air, and it burst, spraying the area with glowing shards. Everything they touched burst into brief, wild fires. Ruki felt something fall to earth behind her and explode, pitching her into the air. 

*_Oh, heck,_* she thought distractedly. *_That's not a spell I know. I wonder where he got it?_* 

She hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud and lay there, dazed. She was dimly aware that Jenrya was in similar shape, but she was not in any mood to worry about him. The explosion had burned her, and she hurt. That was all she could make her mind concentrate on for the moment. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the mage drop lightly from the sky to land by the riverbank. He took a few steps forward, coming closer to her. 

"This is what you get for meddling in other people's affairs," he said quietly. The forest sounded strangely silent; not even a wind was moving in the trees. "I had hoped you would be cooperative. As things are... your dead body will work as well for the focus of a finding spell as if you were still alive. This is the end of your legend, Ruki Makino." 

He took another step closer, and Ruki tried to move out of the way, but her aching body wouldn't obey her. It felt as if the air had frozen into ice, rock-solid ice that would not let her move. He took another step. Flickers of power were gathering between his fingers. Another step. 

*_Renamon, where are you? Damn you, you said you'd protect me!_* thought Ruki wildly. *_Renamon!_* 

The wind suddenly picked up in the trees. The lights were building around the approaching sorcerer, not only on his hands but all around him as the spell rose to completeness. She could feel its power washing against her skin; nothing she could do now would save her. It was funny, she thought with detachment, how one noticed every little detail of the surroundings at a time like this. If by some miracle she survived beyond this moment, she would remember the rest of her life the way the treetops were swaying against the star-spangled sky, and the feel of a cool breeze touched with a scent of wisteria... 

Something slammed against the sorcerer from the side, throwing him momentarily off- balance. A prickle ran through the air as his spell disintegrated. 

"Why pick on a girl who's already down?" asked Renamon. "I'm more of a challenge." 

"I don't have time to chase after stray Digimon," Yamaki snapped. "Get out of here, you mutated freak." 

"Smile when you say that," Renamon answered, twitching her ears impudently. 

In reply, Yamaki made an annoyed gesture with one hand, and the trees Renamon had been standing amid burst into blue flames... but Renamon was not among them anymore, but sailing through the air. She landed lightly on her back paws, letting her tail settle gracefully around her, not even so much as singed. 

"You really are blind, aren't you?" she taunted. 

The mage's handsome face twisted into an ugly snarl, and he tossed another ball of light at her. Ruki watched, half in fear, half in amazement, as Renamon avoided the blast as if it were barely moving. She kept calling taunts back to the sorcerer, driving him to more violent and reckless behavior... but keeping his mind completely off of his two original targets. Ruki managed to shake herself from her daze enough to perform a quick healing - not enough to bring her to full strength again, but enough that she could move again. She hurried over to Jenrya's side and gave him a quick inspection; he had taken a worse hit from the spell than she had, and she mustered what power she had left to try to heal him. 

"That's cold," he said faintly. 

"It's better than being dead," she told him. "You almost got roasted. We've got to get out of here before-" 

There was another explosion, and Ruki winced as the ground beneath her feet shook. A moment later, a rather battered-looking Renamon fell out of the sky a few yards away. Forgetting any of her old prejudices against Digimon, Ruki scampered over to kneel next to her. 

"I'm sorry," said Renamon. "He was too strong for me..." 

"It's okay," Ruki replied, running a hand over Renamon's smooth fur. It made her fingers tingle, as if she were touching the wind. "You were amazing, Renamon. You saved my life." 

"Not for long," Terriermon muttered. "Mister Happy's coming this way, and none of you look like you're in any shape to run away." 

Ruki looked up. The sorcerer was returning to his original quarry, looking rather ruffled but grimly determined. She faced him squarely, trying to meet eyes that couldn't see her. If her time was really up, she was not going to meet her end cringing like a coward. 

However, just before the mage could reach her, there was a crash in the underbrush, as if one or two large things were rushing through the woods. Yamaki spun in place, hunting for the source of the sound - not hard, as much noise as was being made. 

"We're coming, Ruki!" Takato bellowed. 

"More reinforcements?" Yamaki muttered. 

"That's me," Ruki retorted. "I'm just Little Miss Social." 

Takato rushed into view, making quite a display as he flourished his sword. He was followed by Culumon and an unfamiliar red Digimon. They all stopped short as they caught sight of the angry sorcerer and the ruined riverside. 

"Uh-oh, it's him again," said Takato. "This doesn't look good." 

"Is he a friend, too?" asked Guilmon, giving Takato an inquisitive look. 

"Not hardly," Takato replied. "I think he's an enemy." 

Guilmon's eyes narrowed until the black in them was nothing but a pair of dark slits, and he growled deep in his throat. "Don't you hurt my friend!" 

"I'd like to see you stop me," Yamaki replied. 

With a snarl, Guilmon made a dash at Yamaki, only to be thrown off his feet by an explosion. Undaunted, he shook himself and attacked again, while Takato watched helplessly. It was ridiculous to face a powerful mage with nothing but a sword, but he had to do something or Guilmon would get turned into a pile of dust before he ever got a chance to know him properly. Suddenly, it was surpassingly important that nothing get between him and Guilmon, but what could he do? All he had was his sword... and Ruki's Cards, but they wouldn't work for him. 

Or would they? He scrambled in his pack and took out the red Ark and Ruki's cards. Grabbing one at random, he pulled it through the slot in the Ark. Instantly, there was a crackle of energy, and Guilmon suddenly leaped to his feet just in time to avoid a blast that might have otherwise finished him off. He did not fall to earth, but hovered, suspended on glowing white wings that carried him across the stream to land next to Ruki and Jenrya. 

"What in the world?" Jenrya muttered. 

"The Arks..." Ruki muttered. "They work with the Cards... and the Digimon! That's what these things do - they transfer the powers of the Cards to the Digimon!" 

Quickly, she reached for her Ark, the blue one that made her fingers tingle as if she held the wind. 

"Takato, throw me the Cards!" she shouted. 

"You've already got some of mine; what more do you need?" asked Jenrya. 

"You can have them; I want mine," she said. She shoved the deck back in his direction. 

"Suit yourself," he said. 

He took out one labeled with a picture of a glowing red sphere and ran it through the green Arc. 

"Whoa, that feels weird," Terriermon complained. "I think I'm gonna... whoa!" 

With an almost involuntary flourish of ears, he suddenly launched a round of red fireballs through the air, making them explode around the stunned mage. Terriermon laughed. 

"Whee, this is fun!" he cheered. "Haha! Take that!" 

"Here, Ruki, catch!" Takato shouted. He pitched her packet of Cards as hard as he could, and she caught it neatly. She opened it and selected a card, and Jenrya stared with interest. The design on it was one he'd never seen before, one of a dark, swirling vortex full of flashing lights. In the shimmering starlight, it almost seemed to move. 

"Now, _this_, friend, is a _Card_," said Ruki, nodding her approval. "Hey, hot shot! Eat this!" 

She whipped the Card through the Ark, bringing about another surge of energy, and Ruki smiled. This was what she was born to do - fight battles like this, and she knew instinctively that Renamon was the perfect battle partner for her. Even before she'd finished the split-second work of pulling the Card through its slot, Renamon was on her feet again, apparently as refreshed as if she'd never been hurt at all. She leaped into the air and spread her paws, and suddenly there was light forming there, a spinning mass of light and shadows and fire. With a final flourish, she released it, and for an instant, the clearing was drowned in darkness and flame... 

Then it passed. In the center of what was now a dried-out riverbed in the middle of a field of sand, the sorcerer stood with his clothes and hair rearranged, but looking otherwise unhurt. He turned to face all of them briefly. 

"Well," he said, sounding a bit hoarse, "it seems you know a few tricks I don't. Perhaps you will be more of a challenge than I anticipated. We will see each other again." 

With a flourish of his cloak, he vanished. Everyone else collapsed where they stood, too weary, aching, and shocked to stand another minute. 

"What," said Jenrya, "in the name of everything that moves was _that_?" 

"The reason why they call me the greatest Cardmage alive," said Ruki. "Every card-player ought to have an ace or two in the hole; that was one of mine." 

"But what _was_ it?" Jenrya persisted. "I've never seen a Card like it." 

"I've never seen _anything_ like it," said Takato. 

"That's because there isn't anything like it. It's a spell of my own invention," Ruki replied. "I wouldn't be much of a Cardmage if I couldn't make my own Cards when I need them. That's one of my favorites." 

"Oh," said Takato. "Um, by the way... isn't that the guy in white who kidnaped you? What's he doing here?" 

"He's running away," Ruki explained. "He's on our side now, I think... him, and these Digimon. Takato, meet Jenrya, Terriermon, and Antieramon. Everyone, this is Takato, Culumon, and... what is that thing, anyway?" 

"This is Guilmon," said Takato. 

"Hi!" said Guilmon. 

"He's my friend," Takato replied. 

"More than a friend," said Renamon, coming to join the group. "They are partners." 

"Partners?" repeated Ruki uneasily. 

"Just as we are," Renamon replied. "Didn't you feel it, just now?" 

She hung her head. "I guess I did. It's just... strange. I mean, I don't _like_ Digimon, but..." 

Renamon put a paw under her chin, forcing her to look up and meet her eyes. They were the color of emeralds in the starlight, deep and ageless and wise. Looking into them gave Ruki courage. 

"Acceptance will come in time," said Renamon. "Until then... will you allow me to stay with you? I do not want a repeat of tonight." 

"I think I can deal with that," said Ruki. 

"Do you mean," said Jenrya, "that I am stuck with this little creature here for... for the rest of my life?" 

"Yup!" Terriermon chirped. "You need someone to look after you. Maybe with my influence, you'll learn how to smile once in a while." 

Jenrya stared at him, an expression of bafflement on his face. Then he did something unexpected: he laughed. It started as a small, suppressed chuckle, but it wouldn't stay down. It broke into a full-fledged laugh, forcing him to brace himself against a tree to keep him from falling to the ground. 

"Yeah, that's the idea!" said Terriermon. "I knew you had it in you somewhere!" 

"Are you okay?" asked Takato. 

Jenrya waved the question away as he tried to catch his breath again. Dabbing tears from his eyes, he managed to gasp, "I'm all right, I'm all right." Gulping another breath, he said more steadily, "It was just... too much for me, for a minute. It just hit me - I really am free now... unless you count taking orders from a Digimon... and it all came out as laughing." 

"Laughing is good for you," said Terriermon. 

"I think I'll be doing it a lot more often, from now on," said Jenrya. "Especially with you all around." 

"We're glad to have you aboard," said Takato. "Right, Ruki?" 

Ruki looked at the assembled company. A few days ago, it had just been herself. Now it was herself, plus a swordsman, a mage, a dinosaur, a rabbit, a dog, a golden fox, and a... whatever Culumon was. All she had wanted for years was to be left alone, and this was very strange, and yet, now that it was happening, it didn't feel wrong. It felt as warm as a campfire, as natural as laughing, as sweet as a wisteria-scented wind. She turned just enough that she could look into Renamon's emerald eyes. 

*_Acceptance,_* whispered a voice in her mind. 

"Sure," she said. "Welcome aboard." 


	3. The Healer and the Hunter

**The Healer and the Hunter**

  


**By: SilvorMoon**

Cable Town was a flourishing habitation, large enough to have not only a wall around it, but niceties like a large town hall, a library, and a sizeable marketplace. Takato and Jenrya gazed lazily down at it from their shelter amid the trees. They had been traveling all night since their clash with the sorcerer, and now they were both glad of a respite in a reasonably safe hiding place. At this point, the forest they'd been traveling through stopped abruptly, and the ground dropped sharply into a long hill that was only just barely not steep enough to be called a cliff. From here, they were safely hidden within the tree shadows, and they could still keep an eye on the main roads that led to and from the town. 

"When do you think Ruki will be back?" asked Takato. 

"How should I know?" Jenrya replied. "You know her better than I do; you tell me." 

"I hardly know her myself. I only met her a couple of days ago." 

Jenrya gave him a speculative look. "She must trust you a great deal to travel with you. Either that, or she is very confident in her ability to defend herself." 

"I don't think she trusts anyone," Takato replied. "It's just... weird stuff's going on, you know?" 

"She does trust you," said Renamon, authority in her voice. "Not out of any particular merit you might have, but because it is a necessity." 

"I guess that's right," Jenrya said, looking around at the odd little party they'd assembled. "The same reason we all trust each other." 

"I don't know if I believe that," said Takato. "I trust Ruki because I know she can be trusted. Maybe she's not the nicest person in the world, but she doesn't mess with anyone who doesn't mess with her first. And Culumon and Guilmon wouldn't hurt a fly if it bit them. I don't know about the rest of you yet, but you seem all right." 

"I see," said Jenrya thoughtfully. "Well, I hope I earn your trust too, in time. You seem like a good person. So... you don't believe Ruki is getting up to any mischief down in that town, then." 

"I didn't say _that_." 

They settled back down to wait. An hour or more ago, Ruki had told them to stay beneath the trees and wait for her while she went down into the town. Her explanation was that she had business of one sort and another to conduct down there, and while people might know her and trust her, they probably would be made suspicious if she came in with a pair of competent- looking, sword-wielding characters and a variety of Digimon. Since there was some truth in that argument, the young men and the 'mons had agreed to stay where they were. 

As the sun was nearing the horizon, Renamon's sharp eyes picked up a movement coming up the road - the flicker of a wind-tossed cloak, the flash of sunlight on red hair. Soon everyone could see Ruki returning, looking pleased with herself. She scrambled up the hill and dropped onto a fallen log in an attitude of exhaustion. 

"Whew!" she said. "And I thought my mother was bad about haggling prices! I was starting to think I'd never get out of there." 

Takato blinked. "But... you didn't buy anything, did you?" he said, appraising her empty hands. 

"You have a lot to learn about sorcerers," said Jenrya. "Do you think we wear these cloaks for show?" 

"Well, kind of..." 

Ruki sighed and shook her head. "Yes, you definitely have a long way to go. For your information, we've usually got three or four spells woven into these things... spells for carrying things, for instance." 

She whipped off her cloak and shook it. A pile of boxes, packages, and bags fell out in a disorganized heap. Takato stared. 

"That's... gotta be very useful," he said. "What is all this stuff?" 

"Supplies," she explained. "I figure we're going to be on the road a lot. It's not safe for us to spend too much time where there are lots of people, especially with the Digimon following us around. We'll have to move as fast as we can and not stop for _anything_ except to sleep. That means no time for hunting, no time for replenishing spells, no time to look for healers..." 

There was an unhappy murmur. Ruki bore it patiently. After their dual with Yamaki, there was not one among them who wasn't feeling sore, burnt, or battered. Jenrya had used up nearly all his magical power the night before, and it had yet to replenish itself enough that he could have worked even a small healing. Ruki wasn't nearly as drained, but her healing talents were small and quickly used up. Most of their combined strength had gone into patching up Antieramon, who had taken serious injury in the first sneak attack. There had been very little left for anyone else, and none of them were in the best of condition. 

"That is bad," said Takato. "That's going to slow us down if we have to travel while we're injured." 

"I bought medicines," she said. "They aren't as good as a real healing, but there's not much else we can do." 

"What else have you got in there?" asked Jenrya. He was eyeing Guilmon, who was crawling toward the packs on all fours, sniffing them avidly with his ears pricked forward. 

"Traveling food," she said, "so we don't have to forage for things later. Spare weapons and tools. A map and compass. Bandages. Blankets. You know, traveling supplies. The basics. Also..." She rummaged through the packs, pushing Guilmon and Culumon out of the way. "I got a present for you, Takato." 

"Who, me?" he asked, surprised. 

She pulled out a small paper-wrapped packet and tossed it to him. He eyed it curiously. The paper was unlike anything he'd felt before, almost clothlike, and it was held shut on both sides by a wax seal with unfamiliar symbols on it. 

"Go on," Ruki prompted him. "You're supposed to _open_ presents, not sit around staring at the wrapping paper all day." 

Carefully, Takato pried loose the seals and unfolded the paper. Inside was a stack of sixty or so rectangles of stiff pasteboard, marked with a variety of interesting pictures. He riffled across the deck and felt his fingers tingling as from electricity. 

"Cards?" he asked. "But I can't use these..." 

"You can with that Ark of yours," she replied. "I figure, if Fate gives you a weapon, use it. That's your ammunition. I tried to get you a good variety of basic spells - fire, ice, wind, the usual things. Sorry there's nothing fancy in there, but..." 

"But some Cards are temperamental," Jenrya finished. "People who don't know what they're doing have a bad history of accidentally triggering something and obliterating themselves." 

Takato blanched a little and looked as if he'd like to have somewhere he could hide his new deck of Cards. Ruki scowled at him. 

"Don't be like that," she said. "I wouldn't have given you anything I thought was dangerous. If you accidentally blew yourself up, odds are you'd take us with you. Do you think I want that?" 

"No, I guess not," said Takato. 

"Trust me. I am the greatest Cardmage alive. I know whether a Card is volatile or not," said Ruki. "Don't worry; I'll teach you how to use those, or at least the principles of it. Preferably while we walk; we've wasted enough time here already." 

"You're probably right," said Jenrya, reluctantly pulling himself to his feet. He pressed a hand to his sore side and winced. "If you've got any painkiller in those packs, I'll be happy to carry it." 

"You're going to have to," Ruki replied. "We're all sharing this load. All of us," she added, with a telling glance at the Digimon. 

"Huh?" said Terriermon, looking affronted. "What do I look like, a pack mule?" 

"It's only fair," said Takato, resolutely shouldering his burden. He had been hurt least of all of them, and felt he owed it to them to take the heaviest pack. "It's not right to make one member carry everything when all of us are going to use it." 

"Why can't she just put it back in her cape where it came from?" Terriermon persisted. 

"Because it's still heavy," said Ruki, grabbing a bag and tossing it to Renamon, who took it and shouldered it without complaint,"and that spell doesn't hold up but for so long. I could maybe carry it for a half-hour or so, but after that point, things would start breaking down and, depending on what snapped first, everything would either go tumbling down to the ground or fall down an inderdimensional warphole and never be seen again. Is that what you want?" 

Terriermon sighed and picked up a small bundle. Culumon did the same. Jenrya helped them get the straps hitched over their arms and legs so they wouldn't lose anything, and then picked up one of the larger bundles. So did Ruki. Antieramon was given a bulky bundle of blankets - large, but not particularly heavy, meaning that he could carry it well enough even in his still-injured state. Thus encumbered, they set off. 

Ruki's plan had varying levels of success. Takato managed perfectly well - he'd been on campaigns where he'd been forced to carry a great deal more, so he regarded this as being little more than a mild inconvenience. Guilmon likewise proved suited to the task, being surprisingly strong and agile. He trotted steadily along on all fours, cheerful as if this were all a game. Ruki bore up as well as she could, but she still felt stiff and achy all over, and tired from her attempts at healing. It was not a magic she was well suited to, and she was feeling the strain. Jenrya seemed to feel the same, though he bore up stolidly, reminding himself that he could still be slaving away for Yamaki, and that he was lucky to have nothing worse to do than carry bags. Renamon loped along silently, moving no less gracefully for the addition of a backpack than she had without it. 

It was lucky that the five of them could bear most of the load themselves, because the last three Digimon were not managing well. Despite the fact that Ruki had made the lightest bundle she could for Culumon, he still seemed to be tiring under its burden, and finally wound up riding on Guilmon's head. Terriermon didn't want a bag and didn't care who knew it. He was also not cut out for long-distance traveling, particularly amid trees that snagged at his long ears. He alternated between soaring short distances and riding on his partner's shoulders. Antieramon, true to his nature, never complained, but he was clearly having difficulties. Ruki did a covert test of his energy field and found it flickering; his injuries, magically inflicted and ineptly healed, were betraying him. She estimated that he would make it until nightfall if he wasn't pushed too hard, but that was all. Beyond that point, he would either need to stop for a proper healing or stop because he'd collapsed. She hoped by the end of the day, her and Jenrya's magic would have recovered enough that they could heal him more completely. 

*_Somehow,_* she thought, as her foot caught a root and nearly made her fall, *_I doubt that's going to happen._* 

~*~

A woman was walking slowly up the hall of the palace, carefully balancing a glass on a tray. She appeared to be a serving woman, and not a particularly important one, by the look of her. Her clothing was simple: a one-piece white dress, devoid of all ornamentation, not even a bit of trim at the hems or a frill at the wrists. Her shoes were likewise simple, comfortable, and serviceable, clicking softly as she continued her journey. Her long red hair was unbound, falling straight past her shoulders. She wore no jewelry and no makeup. It was as if every effort had been made to make her as plain as possible. Yet, oddly enough, her simple white dress was of the finest silk, and a breath of expensive perfume rode the air around her. One meeting her for the first time would likely have come to one of two conclusions. One was that she was the servant of some great lord who would not permit even his lowest drudges to go clad in rags. The other was that she was a member of some religious order that would not permit even its highest priestess to go dressed in frills. There was some truth in both of those ideas, but only a grain. The truth was somewhat more complicated. 

The other servants who worked in Yamaki's home knew exactly what she was, and even those who arrived after she had first appeared soon learned. Her show of simplicity couldn't begin to hide the fact that she was spectacularly beautiful. The form her plain dress fit over was perfectly shaped, with the thin silk clinging to it in interesting ways. Her face needed no enhancing to draw attention to her soft lips and wide, sea-colored eyes, and many of the servant men would have killed for a chance to run their hands through her silky hair. Even a blind man could have seen that she was something special... and so he had. 

Nearly five years ago, Reika Ootori had been living in her own small village, studying what magic she could learn from a local wisewoman but yearning for a teacher who could help her reach her full potential. When she'd heard news that the renowned sorcerer Yamaki would be traveling through one of the nearby cities, she had left her home to seek him out. He had been very surprised when she had approached him boldly and asked him to teach her. Naturally, he had turned her down - the greatest magician alive had no need of a simple village girl, after all. He had expected her to bow and back down... but she had not. She had argued with him, fluently enough to make him realize the village girl he was dealing with was anything but simple. Intrigued, he had tested her powers, and what he found had prompted him to cancel the rest of his visit so he could begin her training immediately. 

So she had come to stay with him, with no expectation than to be instructed in a few spells. However, as they spent day after day working side by side, they had formed a mutual respect for each other, then genuine liking, and within a year, both of them had fallen under an enchantment of a sort very different than anything they'd been studying. That spring, an order had been given that she have her lodgings relocated to the room across the hall from Yamaki's, just in case the master should need her assistance with some late-night experiment. Naturally, there were a few snickers among the lower servants, with assorted jokes about "love at first sight" and "blinding beauty" and "the most beautiful girl he'd never seen," but a little encouragement from the mage himself had made them all but vanish. 

Even so, Reika preferred the white dress. She could have had anything she wanted - Yamaki wasn't stingy when it came to seeing her happy - but it was comfortable, practical, and its simplicity helped discourage the attention of at least some of the more superficial men she met. She could wear it and look perfectly modest, yet still be attractive to the one who knew her only by sound and touch. Likewise, she avoided jewelry, which was only cold and sharp to him. As for makeup, what use had she for it? As far as she was concerned, it was the perfect arrangement: she could be her most attractive by putting in minimal effort. 

Coming to the end of the hallway, she reached a door and balanced her tray on one hand so she could knock. 

"Go away!" said a voice from within. 

"Mitsuo, it's me, Reika." 

"Ah," he said, a bit more gently. "Are you sure it can't wait, whatever it is? I'm busy." 

"You're always busy," she scolded. "Can I at least come in?" 

"If you wish." 

Since her hands were full, she simply stared at the door, and it politely opened for her - after all, it knew her fairly well by this time. That was one of the advantages of living with a technomage: half the machines in the castle had partial intelligence, and would usually do as she asked them. 

The room she entered was a small one, without much more space than could comfortably hold a medium-sized bookshelf, a desk, a computer, a chair, and a human being or two. There was perhaps enough floor space for six, if they didn't mind standing close together. Right now, the only one in there was Yamaki, sitting at the computer as it read to him from the pages of some dusty old book in a language Reika didn't feel like trying to understand. As she entered the room, he turned the sound off. 

"Did you have something you wanted to say?" he asked. 

"I just brought you this," she said, passing him the tray. "I thought you might be thirsty. You've been working all morning without a break." 

He took the glass and sniffed it, and found it to be only fruit juice. That was just as well; he needed his wits about him. He also knew Reika worried about him, and he didn't put it past her to slip him something that would force him to stop what he was doing and rest, whether he was ready to or not. 

"I will rest when I am finished," he told her. "That will be soon. I would have been done by now, but an unexpected situation has arisen and I need to deal with it." 

"Don't you think you'll deal with it better if you aren't working yourself until you drop?" 

"I am fully capable of judging my own strength." 

"Yes," she said. "I know that. What worries me is that you tend to ignore that particular knowledge." 

He scowled a bit and busied himself with his drink. She eyed him suspiciously. 

"There's something not right about you, lately," she said. "You're overextending yourself. I've seen you run yourself ragged before, but never like this. It's like you're obsessed." 

"You're reading the signals wrong. This isn't obsession - it's the last burst of speed at the end of a race." 

Her eyebrows rose. "You mean to say...?" 

"I've found the cure." 

"Are you certain?" 

"I am absolutely certain. I have tested it every possible way I can think of, and everything comes up positive. All I need is one final ingredient, a single key, and my work will finally be complete." 

She frowned, knowing he couldn't see it. She wasn't completely sure she liked that idea. 

"What is this key?" she asked at last. 

"It is a small Digimon known as Culumon," Yamaki explained. "Or rather, an artifact that has been sealed inside him, a key that can open all gates - anything that has been sealed." 

"So, all you need is this Digimon, and you'll be able to see?" 

"That is my belief. Only the actual conducting of the experiment will tell," he replied. He gulped down the last of his drink and sighed. "Only a little while longer..." 

She kept silent a moment. Then, quietly, "Are you sure it's even necessary?" 

"Necessary?" The tone of his voice implied he thought she'd gone crazy. "How can you ask such a thing?" 

"No reason, I suppose," she answered. Her tone did not sound certain, but he let it go. 

*_She could have a point... I have done very well for myself without the use of my sight. I probably would never have come this far if I had been able to see - if I'd had nothing to work for. Instead, I'm one of the most powerful people alive, I have wealth to spare and the love of a beautiful woman... a woman I can't even look at._* He sighed. *_She can't understand. She doesn't know what it's like to know everyone around you takes for granted something you can't even imagine. Maybe if I knew there was no hope, I could give up and move on, but to be this close and be told to stop..._* 

"Be patient," he told her. "This will all be over soon, and I want you to be here when my work is complete. I want you to be the first thing I see." 

A smile tugged at her lips; it had been a long time since he'd found anything romantic to say to her. 

"I can't argue with that," she said. "Still, you have been working hard. If you aren't going to get some sleep, couldn't you at least lie down a while?" She said it so innocently that he wouldn't be able to impute it with a double meaning unless he actually wanted to. She waited hopefully to see what he would say. 

However, he didn't get a chance to say anything, because at that moment, a servant came dashing up the hallway. He stopped at the door and bowed low. 

"Master Yamaki," he said, "there are two young men here to speak with you - mercenaries, by the look of them. Shall I send them away?" 

"No," he replied. "Show them to the lower antechamber. I want to have a word with them, privately." 

Reika took the hint and left. It was just as well, she decided - now was perhaps not the best time for romance, after all. It would solve none of her problems. Thinking about them probably wouldn't solve them, either, but it would be better than trying to avoid them. 

*_Mercenaries?_* she thought with dismay. *_I don't like that at all. What on earth is he going to do with them?_* 

She sighed. The man she had met, the one she had fallen in love with, had been a great humanitarian. She had seen him heal children of diseases that would have killed them otherwise, and seen him call down rain over villages that had suffered drought for years. He had once been present at a rape trial and used his abilities to ascertain the truth of the charges, and had spelled the attacker to suffer wounds that would never heal as punishment for his deeds, but never in all the time she'd known him had he tried to inflict physical harm on an innocent. Yet, she had to admit, he had been tending more and more in that direction. She hadn't approved of the imprisonment of the king and his son, no matter how necessary Yamaki insisted it was. What was he going to do now? 

*_Where are your studies going to end? Would you kill someone, if that was what it took? Will you be the same when your eyes are opened? Will you still pity the unfortunate when you are no longer disabled? Will you see me the same way when you can really see me?_* 

~*~

The soldiers stood in the corner of the antechamber and fidgeted. It was obvious to them that they weren't especially welcome here, no matter who had ordered them to come. The servant who had brought them here had been quite frosty, and their current accommodations were nicely calculated to make them feel as if they didn't belong there. The furniture was lovely, expensive, uncomfortable, and delicate, making them feel as if they should not sit down or even move lest they break something. The lights were dim, and there were traces of dust in the corners. In the home of a commoner, that would have spoken of laziness; here, it was only a sign that they were too insignificant to bother to clean or light lamps for. 

"I don't like this," one of the soldiers complained. "Are you sure we can't get a different job somewhere else?" 

"Keep quiet," the other replied. "We're never going to find a better job than this one. This guy's got more money than he knows how to spend. If we can pull this off for him, we'll be set for life." 

"I don't think it's going to be that easy," his partner answered. 

The second one only shuffled his feet a bit and said nothing. He was the more soldierly of the two, wearing good armor and carrying a battle-scarred sword. His skin was tanned from days out in the sun, his hair long and untidy, showing an inclination to stick up into the air, and his body seemed to consist of little more than wiry muscle, lean but powerful. His partner was cloaked and hooded, leaving his looks uncertain, but nervous jerks of his head showed occasional glimpses of dark eyes, dark hair, and pale skin. 

The door swung open, and both soldiers instinctively snapped to attention. Yamaki had a way of dominating any room he entered, and the soldiers were trained to react to authority figures. The sword-bearer saluted; the other tried to draw deeper into the folds of his cloak. 

"You are the mercenaries I sent for, correct?" asked Yamaki. 

"We are," said the swordsman. 

"There have to be better warriors out there somewhere," Yamaki replied. "Unfortunately, I don't have time to look for them, so I suppose you'll do." 

"If it can be done with steel or magic, we can do it," the swordsman replied boldly. 

"I'd prefer the job be done with _intelligence_, but that would be asking too much," said Yamaki. "Your partner is a mage?" 

"Yes, sir," said the swordsman. "He doesn't look like much, but he's good at what he does." 

"I don't care if he looks like a blue baboon - it makes no difference to me," answered Yamaki wryly. He paused a moment, apparently making an assessment. His eyebrows rose. "Indeed, I'm more impressed with him than I am with you. At least he knows when to keep his mouth shut." 

"I'm the spokesman for the two of us," said the swordsman. "He takes orders from me. I take orders from you... if the price is right." 

"A true mercenary. Very well, if the money is what interests you..." He named a sum that made the swordsman's jaw drop, and the mage gave a muffled squeak. 

"This has got to be some mission," the swordsman managed at last. 

"It is important to me, whereas money is not," answered Yamaki. "All I need you to do is to go find a particular baby Digimon for me and bring it back alive." 

"A... a Digimon?" asked the mage haltingly. Like most others, he seemed to share a fear of any Digimon, large or small. 

"A baby," said the swordsman. "No problem." 

"You are not going to ask what it's for?" 

"Why should I care?" the swordsman replied. "If that's what you want to spend your money on, it makes no difference to me." 

Yamaki smiled. "I think I like you, after all. If you're as reckless as you are avaricious, you will be just the man for the job." 

"Reckless?" the swordsman repeated, eyes narrowing. "Excuse me, but do you mind telling me what's so dangerous about nabbing a baby Digimon?" 

"If it was easy, I'd send a servant, not a paid warrior and a wizard," Yamaki replied. "The Digimon I seek is currently in the possession of the famed sorceress Ruki Makino, and she is being very stubborn about giving it up." 

"Ah," said the swordsman. "I gotcha." 

"You are not afraid?" 

"Nope, can't say that I am." 

Yamaki smiled again. "Excellent." 

~*~

A rest break eventually became not only necessary but inevitable. The tired and wounded party could literally go no further, so they collapsed with groans and sighs by the side of a tiny stream to rest their aching muscles. Antieramon set his pack under his head and went to sleep instantly. Ruki would have liked very much to do the same, but her conscience wouldn't let her. She had never asked to be leader of anything, but she had a feeling of obligation on her - the others seemed to take her leadership as a matter of course, and so she did the best she could. She went over to Anteiramon's side and began giving him the best professional examination she could, considering that he was lying there like a rock. 

"How is he?" asked Jenrya. 

"Rough," Ruki admitted. "It's amazing he's held up this well. He's got some bad burns - they're bound to be hurting him like crazy. I wouldn't be surprised if he has more injuries we can't see." 

"Is he going to be all right?" Jenrya asked. 

"I have no idea. I don't know the first thing about Digimon physiology." Ruki glanced at her partner. "Renamon? Any ideas?" 

The fox shook her head regretfully. "Medicine is not my field of study. I doubt I could tell you anything you do not already know." 

"Poor guy," said Terriermon, looking into the sleeping rabbit's face. "I feel kinda sorry for the big fella. He never even complains." 

"Unlike some Digimon," said Jenrya, giving his partner a mock-glare. "Is there anything we can do for him?" 

"I'll give him some of the pain medicine when he wakes up," Ruki decided. "That will help. Have you got any of your magic back? I hate to say it, but as a healer, I make a really good battle-mage. You're better than I am." 

Jenrya looked down at his hands. Silvery light flared around them briefly, then subsided. 

"Enough," he declared. "I can at least speed things along a little." 

"Good. Do that." 

The man in white wasted no more time. He knelt next to Antieramon and went to work putting his magic into the worst of the rabbit's wounds. Ruki closed her eyes briefly, sensing the energy auras of those around her. Takato, Guilmon, Terriermon, Renamon, and Culumon read only as sore and tired, and no more of either than could be alleviated by a few hours of rest. Jenrya came off as worse; he had at least one injury that needed proper attention. At the very least, he had to be in considerable pain, though like Antieramon, he was good at suffering in silence. Antieramon... well, she hadn't been lying when she said she knew nothing about Digimon physiology, but even she could tell he was in a bad way. His life-force was flickering like a dying candle; only the fact that he was in a deep sleep, and that Jenrya was currently pouring all the power he had to spare into him, seemed to be holding him to life. 

*_I'm going to kill us all,_* thought Ruki, a little wildly. *_If we stay put, one of Yamaki's people will come and find us, and they'll kill us. If we keep going, we'll all drop from exhaustion. No matter what I do, we're going to die..._* 

She shook her head fiercely; she had to be more tired than she'd realized, to be thinking like that. She made an assessment of her own powers, watching her hands briefly flare with a reddish light, as if her arteries and veins were glowing. The light barely spread beyond her skin. 

*_That seals it. None of us are in any shape to go any further. We need to stop and rest, and we need to do it now._* 

"Hey, Takato," she said, "how are you feeling?" 

"Tired," he said. "Otherwise, fine. I'm not hurt or anything, if that's what you mean." 

"If I gave you a few minutes to rest, would you be up to a fight?" 

Takato frowned. "Maybe. I wouldn't be at my best, but I've fought like this before, and I'm still alive. If I didn't have to hold off more than two or three people..." 

"That will have to do," Ruki decided. "Guilmon? Renamon? Terriermon? How are you holding up?" 

Guilmon blinked at her. "I'm not holding anything. I put it down, see?" 

"I wouldn't count on this one in a fight, if I were you," said Renamon. "But if it is necessary, I will do battle again." 

"Hey, if there's a fight, count me in!" said Terriermon. "Well, maybe after a quick nap, but after that, I'm good to go!" 

"Are we going to have a fight?" asked Guilmon. "I thought we stopped to rest." 

"We did," Takato told him. "Ruki just wants to know if you could fight if something bad came up while we were resting." 

"Ohh," said Guilmon. "I get it. Well, if you're going to fight, I'll fight, too!" 

"Good," said Ruki. "At least we won't be totally defenseless. All right, folks, I've made up my mind. I don't care if Yamaki comes out here with a whole entire army, we are not moving from this spot until we get some of our strength back. Any objections?" 

"I suppose I should object," said Jenrya, "but I'm not sure I have the energy." 

"You're not the one I'm worried about," Ruki replied. "If we push Anteiramon any harder, he _is_ going to die. You know it, too. He hasn't got much left to give." 

"I know what you mean," said Jenrya. "I had no idea he was this loyal until we started this, but... I guess I always knew he was better than your average Digimon. I thought it was only because of who I was comparing him to, but last night, he took that hit to save our lives. He was ready to give his life to save us..." 

"I know, and I agree with you, but this is no time to get sentimental," said Ruki. "How's the healing coming?" 

Jenrya sighed. "I've given him all I have. Now we just have to wait. I think he'll be all right if he just takes a while to rest." 

"How long?" asked Ruki urgently. 

"Well, ideally... a couple of days, with a few more doses of magic, but that's time we don't have." 

Ruki sighed. "Too right. Well, we'll stay here as long as we possibly can. Renamon?" 

"Yes, Ruki?" 

"Do me a favor and run around scouting. If anyone gets within a mile of this place, let me know. I don't care if they're armed or a mage or they're two years old, I want to know about them. Can you do that?" 

Renamon nodded. "Easily." 

With that, she simply seemed to fade into the shadows of the trees. Takato stared, wide- eyed. He turned to Ruki. 

"Did you know she could do that?" he asked. 

Ruki shook her head. "Not a clue. Nice trick, though, isn't it? Wish I could do that." 

"So do I," said Takato. "It would have made life a lot easier. The number of times I had to go tromping through the woods, getting tangled up in branches and briars..." 

"Which reminds me, I have to talk to you, too," said Ruki. "We need to talk to you about your Cards." 

"Oh, yeah, that's right," said Takato. "Okay, tell me. Maybe it'll take my mind off my sore feet." 

"All right. Take them out and let's have a look at them." 

"What, my feet?" 

"No, stupid, the Cards." 

"Oh," said Takato, blushing. "Sorry." 

Takato did as he was told, fishing the paper packet out of his pocket. Culumon perched on his shoulder and peered down at it, blinking his huge eyes curiously. The others, seeing that this was the only thing of even minor interest going on, came over to watch as well. 

"Good, you kept them in their wrapper," said Ruki approvingly. "You don't want to take them out of that unless you can help it, at least until I can get you a proper holder." She patted the pouch at her belt, which had been safely restored to its proper place. "I looked for one in town, but I couldn't find any." 

"Why don't I want to take them out?" asked Takato. 

"It has to do with how the Cards work," Jenrya explained. "They're prepackaged spells. Any magic you've got, you can seal it up inside a card in such a way that only another person with Card-magic can get it out again. How well the spell works and how often you can use it depends on your skill as a Cardmage." 

"And how well the Card was made in the first place," Ruki filled in, "but you don't really need to worry about that. Since you don't have any actual magic of your own, I really don't think the Cards will work more than once. The reason for the packaging is that magic usually doesn't like being sealed up like that. If you don't wrap it in something that will hold it, like that paper, the magic can leak out. That can lead to... complications." 

"What kind of complications?" asked Takato nervously. 

"Usually, it just means that the Cards lose all their power, so they won't work when you need them," said Ruki. "On the other hand, if there happens to be someone nearby who is a Cardmage... well, do you know what happens when there's a gas leak and someone lights a match?" 

Takato nodded mutely. 

"That only happens with the dangerous Cards, though - really powerful ones with a lot of energy to leak," Jenrya hastened to assure him. "I don't think Ruki would have given you any that would hurt you." 

"True," Ruki admitted. "Those are pretty small spells. They aren't likely to go off unexpectedly unless you're being really careless. As long as you keep them wrapped up and fairly dry, you'll be all right." 

"Thanks for the warning," said Takato vaguely. 

"That ought to give you some idea why they say Ruki here is a legend," said Jenrya. "Not only does she use the most powerful Cards they make, but she makes her own. Making Cards, well... playing with explosives can be safer, sometimes. And she's still alive." 

"And going to stay that way," she said. "It's not that bad, once you get the hang of it." 

She took a blank bit of pasteboard out of her pocket, holding it between her forefinger and middle finger. Closing her eyes, she began murmuring something too softly to be heard. She pressed the first two fingers of her free hand to her forehead, then to the corner of the card. There was a soft flare of red light, and a picture began burning itself into the card. When it had finished, Ruki stayed still a moment more, then opened her eyes. She examined the newly-made Card with a practiced eye. 

"Not bad, for the spur of the moment," she said. She passed it to Jenrya. "Since I couldn't come to Your Highness's christening... happy birthday." 

"You have no idea how honored I am," said Jenrya dryly, pocketing the Card. 

"Thank me after you've used it a few times. It'll last you a pretty long time - longer than most of those half-baked Cards you're carrying. I don't do slipshod work, even when I'm showing off. Especially not when I'm showing off." 

"What kind of Card is that?" asked Takato, leaning closer to look. 

"A Fireball," Ruki answered. "Good all-purpose attack spell. You've got lots of them in your deck." 

"What else have I got? If I'm carrying around things that might blow up in my face, I want to know what they are first." 

Resigning herself to a long afternoon, Ruki settled in to instruct Takato on the uses of Cards. 

~*~

"Are you sure this is really worth the effort?" asked the hooded mage for what felt like the tenth time. 

"How many times do I have to tell you?" his companion replied. "This is going to be the easiest job we ever take! All we've got to do is sneak in, you cause a distraction, and I'll snatch the Culumon thing. Then we'll be back on the road and on our way to collect our payment." 

"Somehow, I don't think it's going to be that easy," said the mage. "I mean, Ruki Makino... she's famous. She blows up whole troops of bandits without breaking a sweat." 

"Yeah, but we're not a troop," the swordsman answered. "Troops make big camps and lots of noise and sit in big groups. One well-placed spell and she can wipe out half of them at a go. She's never even going to know we're coming." 

"I hope you're right," said the mage. 

"I'm always right," the swordsman replied. 

However, in this case, he was not right at all, because perched in the treetops above him was a shining golden fox. She watched them for a moment to see if they were going to say anything else of interest. When they didn't, she faded back into the shadows, moving swiftly toward the place where her friends had made camp. 

~*~

"So... this one is a Levitation spell?" 

"That's right," said Ruki approvingly. "And what's this one?" 

"Flare Arrow," answered Takato confidently. 

"And this?" 

"Fireball." 

"Good," she said. "You catch on fast, swordsman. Too bad you don't have any magic talent; you might have made a good sorcerer." 

"Too much trouble," said Takato. "It was enough trouble learning how to fight; I don't need to spend the next ten years of my life digging through old spellbooks, too." 

"Not a scholarly type, eh?" Jenrya commented. 

"Not really," Takato admitted. "But don't go hinting I'm stupid, Ruki!" 

"Wouldn't dream of it," she answered, in such a neutral tone that it was impossible to say if she was being sarcastic or not. 

Just then, Renamon dropped out of the trees, making Culumon squeak and fall off of Takato's shoulder in surprise. 

"We have company," she announced. 

Ruki was on her feet instantly. "What kind?" 

"Two young men. One of them wears armor and carries a sword; both are good quality but have seen much use. He appears to be a mercenary or perhaps a bounty hunter of some kind. The other goes cloaked and hooded; the air around him is scented with magic. I overheard them talking. They appear to be planning to capture Culumon and bring him to someone in exchange for a payment." 

"Lovely," said Ruki. "Looks like our rest break is over." 

"Did they say who they were going to bring him to?" asked Jenrya. 

Renamon shook her head. "No names were mentioned." 

"So it could be Yamaki," Jenrya said, "and then again, it could be some other sneaky sorcerer. Great." 

"Well, whoever it is, we can't let them get away with it," said Terriermon. "We aren't, are we?" 

"One thing is for certain," Ruki replied, "they aren't going to let us get away. We're in no shape to outrun anyone." 

"We stand and fight?" asked Takato, unsheathing his sword. 

"What other choice do we have?" Jenrya replied, glancing at Antieramon. "He's not ready to be moved, and we definitely can't carry him... or abandon him." 

"Wait," said Ruki. "If we've got to have a fight, let's at least not sit here like a bunch of target dummies. Let's at least see if we can come up with a plan of defense." 

"Defense?" said Takato, eyes lighting up a bit. "I can do that." 

"Can you?" asked Jenrya. 

"Sure. It's basic training. Hm..." Takato's brow furrowed in thought. Then he looked up again. "Ruki, didn't you say you could do light-casting?" 

"Yeah," she said. "I mean, that's basic magic. Anyone with even a little skill can do that." 

"You too, Jenrya?" 

"Some, yes." 

"Good. Now, what I've got in mind is like this..." 

Takato dropped his voice, and everyone huddled together so they could listen. 

~*~

The warrior's first clue that there was someone nearby was a scent of woodsmoke. He tested the breeze, trying to find the direction it was coming from. 

"They're close," he whispered to his comrade. "Now, stay quiet. Remember, our first objective is to get that Culumon, not to hurt anyone, so don't waste your time fighting. Got it?" 

"Right," the mage whispered back. "I'll immobilize them for you. Is that good?" 

"Perfect. All right, follow me." 

They slipped silently through the underbrush. Finally, the warrior caught sight of a glint of color that stood out in the leafy green and grey forest: a glowing camp fire. He padded closer, hardly breathing. Through the trees, he could see a small clearing next to a stream. Sitting there were three humans and an assortment of Digimon - mostly Rookies, he guessed, though the one huddled off to the side looked to be several levels beyond that. Still, he could tell it had been badly injured at some point, and wasn't up to any kind of fighting. There was a man in warrior's garb sitting closest to him, with his back to him. A few feet away sat a man dressed completely in white, wearing a sword at his side. The Cardmage herself was on the other side of a small campfire, staring pensively into the flames; she apparently hadn't yet realized someone had sneaked up on her. No one was speaking, and the warrior guessed they were being as still and quiet as possible to avoid detection. Well, it wasn't going to do them any good. The Digimon were resting, apparently asleep. One of them, resting to one side of the mage-girl, fitted the description of Culumon. 

The warrior turned to his companion and made a series of hand signals, silent but effective. Then he began sneaking around the fringes of the camp, moving invisibly through the trees. When the mage judged that his friend had been given a sufficient amount of time, he released his spell. 

"Freeze Arrow!" 

Bolts of blue ice rained down on the campground, striking every living thing in it, engulfing them in a frozen cage. At least, that was how it was supposed to work. The mage stared in consternation as his bolts seemed to pass straight through their targets. The humans and Digimon seemed to vanish into thin air. 

"What the...?" he began. 

There was a rustle in the underbrush, and the warrior leaped out to grab at Culumon... only Culumon wasn't there. The swordsman's hands closed on thin air, and he fell on his face in the grass. He sat up, spitting out bits of twigs and leaves. 

"What just happened?" he demanded. "I told you not to attack them!" 

"I didn't! I was only going to freeze them, I didn't-" 

"Didn't even come close to us," Ruki's voice finished. 

The two attackers turned to see Ruki watching them from her perch in a tall tree. She dropped lightly to the ground to fix them with one of her cold stares. 

"Thought you'd sneak up on us, did you?" she said. "Your friend here must not be much of a mage if he can't even tell an illusion when he sees one." 

"Why, you...!" the swordsman snarled. "You tricked us!" 

"Score one for the genius," she answered. 

Angrily, the swordsman drew his blade and charged at her. She waited calmly, not even making a move to escape. As the warrior neared, Takato sprang out of the bushes and dashed to meet his adversary, sword held high. The other soldier moved to attack him, to force him out of the way... 

Then they both froze. They stared at each other. 

"Takato?" said the mercenary. 

"Hirokazu?" Takato replied. 

"Takato, it _is_ you! What are you doing here?" 

"Well, it's a really long story," Takato replied. "I really wasn't expecting to see you way out here! Why aren't you in Electrode City?" 

"Got tired of the whole mercenary bit," said Hirokazu. "Too much competition. I've taken up bounty hunting now. I get to work solo, I don't have to take orders, and it pays better. That's why I'm here. Some guy hired me to pick up this weird little Digimon, and he offered me a ton of money to do it, so here I am. Nobody told me _you_ were going to be here." 

"Well, it's great to see you again, Kazu. I really missed you," said Takato. "Man, we've got a lot of catching up to do." 

"I believe it," said Hirokazu. "Never thought you'd be working with the legendary Ruki Makino. You must have really risen in the world." 

"It was really sort of an accident," answered Takato modestly. 

"Yeah, well, we'll have to go have a drink somewhere, and you can tell me all about it," Hirokazu replied. "In the meantime, would you mind helping me get that little Digimon? I don't think the boss-man is the kind who puts up with people being late." 

"Sorry, Hirokazu," said Takato. "I can't do that." 

"What?" Hirokazu replied. "Don't you know where he is?" 

"Yeah, I know where he is," Takato said. "It's just... he's my friend, and I can't just give him away like that. He has feelings like anyone else. He's not a piece of property." 

"Well, convince him he ought to go with me, then. This is really important." 

"I can't do that." 

"You mean you won't." Hirokazu's friendly voice had suddenly taken on an edge. 

"You've gotta understand, Culumon's not just a monster," said Takato. "He's my friend." 

"And I'm not?" 

"Not lately." Now Takato's voice was turning dangerous. 

"I don't like this," Jenrya whispered, coming to stand next to Ruki. She shrugged. 

"I don't either," she replied, "but I don't think we're going to stop it. We're going to have to let them fight it out." 

"Look, Takato, don't get all virtuous on me," said Hirokazu. "I know you're an idealist, but my skin is on the line, here. If I don't finish this job, the boss-man might take it out on me. I need that Digimon. Hand it over. Come on. We'll even split the reward - there'll be enough to set all of us up once the job's finished." 

"Nothing doing." 

"I see what's going on," said Hirokazu. "You still think you're better than me, is that? You get picked up by a celebrity, and suddenly you think you're something special. Too good to help your old friend out..." 

"That's not what I think, and you know it." 

"You always thought you were better than me. Well, I'm getting tired of it." 

With a swift movement, he brought his sword around. Takato dodged what might have been a crippling blow if he hadn't been so quick, and the blade clanged harmlessly off his shoulder plate. Takato retaliated - nothing damaging, just enough to drive his friend off a little. 

"Stop it," he protested. "You don't know what you're doing." 

"Hold still," Hirokazu demanded. "We're going to finish this. Right now, I'm going to show you who's really in charge here." 

"I don't care! Just stop this!" 

Takato flourished his sword again, driving Hirokazu back another pace, but only for a moment. The other swordsman retaliated, putting Takato back on defensive. The tempo of their swords picked up as they clashed again and again. Ruki stared worriedly, wondering if she ought to intervene. Takato seemed determined not to hurt his former friend, but the other warrior looked as if he were seriously out for blood... 

Suddenly, Hirokazu's blade found its way through an opening, sliding through a chink in Takato's armor to stab through his biceps. Takato howled in pain and dropped his sword. The other warrior raised his blade, but before he could deliver another stroke, Ruki dived in. She managed to force him away from Takato, but then she was left with the burden of keeping Hirokazu from slicing her into ribbons, and she wasn't even armored as Takato had been. Jenrya bounded in to try to guard her, but both of them were tired and drained, hardly a match for a trained warrior in top form... 

Suddenly, there was a dazzling flash of light, so bright that everyone cringed away. It lasted for several seconds, and when it finally cleared, the mage had latched onto his companion's collar and was dragging him away. Both Hirokazu and his enemies were bleeding from several small injuries. 

"That's enough," the hooded mage said quietly. "The plan failed. Come on." 

"You haven't heard the last of me!" Hirokazu shouted. "I'm going to get you next time! You can count on it!" 

"We'll be waiting for you!" Ruki shouted back. 

They were gone. The sorceress and her friends sat down where they were, and their Digimon converged on them. 

"You okay?" asked Terriermon worriedly. His partner's chest was stained in blood from a long gash. 

"I'm okay," Jenrya replied. "It just... stings a bit, that's all." 

"And you?" asked Renamon. 

"I've had worse," Ruki replied. She hadn't taken any direct hits, but she was scratched in several places and bleeding slightly. "I think Takato got the worst of it." 

Guilmon was snuffling worriedly at his partner, who was still lying on the ground. His face was pale, and there was a dark puddle on the grass next to him. Ruki hauled herself to her feet to have a look, and winced. 

"I can't move my arm," said Takato faintly. "I think he cut through the muscle." 

"I think you're right," she answered, forcing herself to examine the wound. "I don't think he hit any major blood vessels, though. Here, hang on a minute." 

She went to where they'd hidden their packs and began going through them. While she was there, she took a moment to press her hand to Antieramon's nose. He felt feverish. 

*_This is bad,_* she thought, hurrying back to Takato's side as best she could. She took out some bandages and began wrapping his arm tightly. *_Our swordsman has lost his sword arm. Jenrya and I are spent. Antieramon is dying. All we've got left now is the Digimon. How long are they going to last?_* 

~*~

She had no idea how she'd managed to get any sleep. It was probably only sheer exhaustion that had done it, because now that the adrenaline had worn off, Ruki was feeling terribly sore and uncomfortable. Hirokazu had landed a wild shot across her thigh, leaving behind a nasty gash, and she wasn't looking forward to going back to hiking again. She had another injury across one shoulder, and no position she tried to lie in felt comfortable. Finally, close to midnight, she dropped into uneasy dreams of her companions being hacked up by angry swordsmen. The distress it caused her was surprising, and she woke up with a gasp. Heart pounding, she stared up at the star-strewn sky and wondered about her dream. Takato, Jenrya, all the Digimon... just when had they become important to her? When had she begun to care about them? Because she had to admit, now, that it would hurt her deeply if they died. She also had to admit that they were going to die. Maybe they could survive one more attack, but after that... 

"Psst!" 

Ruki jumped. She sat up and stared around wildly. "Who's there? Come out and show yourself!" 

The shadows parted slowly to reveal the cloaked mage. She relaxed, but only marginally. If it hadn't been for his intervention earlier, she would probably be dead by now, but that didn't make him an ally. 

"What do you want?" she demanded. 

"To help you," he answered. His voice was soft and measured, difficult to hear even over the gentle night wind. "If I can." 

"What can you do?" she answered suspiciously. "And why aren't you out there with your buddy? Are you planning another attack?" 

"Hirokazu is sleeping. He's been drinking. He's angry. I don't think he'll wake up again any time soon. I'll have to get rid of his hangover in the morning." 

"Oh," said Ruki. "So... what did you want?" 

"I told you, to help," the mage replied. "I don't like having to do this. Tracking criminals, that's one thing, but capturing innocent creatures so some sorcerer can experiment on them... it's not right. Neither is what Hirokazu did to your friend Takato. He had an unfair advantage. I want to undo a little of the damage he did, if I can." 

"How are you going to do that?" she asked, though she thought she had an idea now. 

The mage shrugged. "I have some healing powers. Not much, but enough to heal your wounds." 

"Any help would be useful," said Ruki slowly, "but I'm not sure I trust you yet." 

"Would you trust me if I healed your friend for you?" 

Ruki shook her head. "Me first. I can defend myself if you try anything funny, and don't you forget it." 

"All right," said the mage. "Hold still, now. It's harder if you move around, and I'm not very good at this." 

He came forward and set his hands on her shoulders. She almost gasped aloud as she felt the healing energy flow through her. She had been healed by professional Healers before, and there was a big difference between one of them and a less skilled mage with some healing ability. Her own healing ability, when it was applied, felt cold, like ice being pressed over the wound - it took the pain away, but it was hardly more comfortable. Jenrya, more talented, only brought on a tingly numbness, as if the area he was working on had fallen asleep. However, the touch of a gifted Healer was one of the more pleasurable things life had to offer, and this hooded mage was the most talented she'd ever encountered. The moment he touched her, a delicious warmth ran through her veins - not just over her injuries, but everywhere, from head to toe. Involuntarily, she closed her eyes to savor the sensation, and tried not to sigh. 

All too soon, he finished what he was doing, and she reluctantly opened her eyes to assess his work. All her injuries were healed as if they'd never been. Not only that, but all the stiffness and soreness had gone from her muscles; she had gone from utter exhaustion to brimming with energy within the space of a few heartbeats. She checked her magic levels, and crimson light flared brilliantly around her hands. 

"Oh my," she said. 

"Did I miss anything?" asked the mage. "I know I'm not a very good healer, but I thought that might make you feel a little better..." 

"No, that was... exactly what I needed. Thank you," she said. 

"You're welcome," he answered. "Do you want me to help the others now?" 

"Um... yes, I think that would be a very good idea," answered Ruki. "Oh, and there's a Digimon who could use some attention, while you're at it." 

The mage flushed, his discomfort clear even behind his cloak. 

"Don't worry," she said. "Antieramon won't hurt you. He's half-dead at the moment, anyway. He wouldn't hurt anyone who helped him." 

"That's not it," the mage replied. "It's just... my magic... it doesn't work on Digimon. I've tried it before - someone accidentally ran over a little one with a cart outside my home. I tried to fix it, but... it was like trying to put healing on a tree, or a rock. It just wouldn't take." 

"I see," said Ruki. "Well, once Jenrya and I have our energy back, we should be able to look after him well enough." 

The mage looked uncomfortable. "Sorry. I'm really not a very good healer... You shouldn't expect too much of me." 

"I won't," she said faintly. "Hang on. I'll go wake up the others." 

The first thing she did was wake up Takato and give him a brief explanation of the situation - that a healer had randomly appeared in the middle of the night who was willing to fix his arm for free. Under the circumstances, that was all he wanted to hear. Then she went to wake up Jenrya and give him a more detailed explanation. 

"Are you sure we can trust him?" asked Jenrya, when he'd seen who their new healer was. 

"Yes, we can," said Ruki. "Jen, this guy is a Healer, an honest-to-goodness Healer. Probably the most powerful - _definitely_ the most powerful I've ever met. He's got healing energy coming out of his ears, and _he doesn't know it's there._" 

"What?" said Jenrya, coming awake instantly. 

"He keeps telling me that he's not a good healer, that he's not powerful at all, but when he worked his spell on me... well, you'll see when he gets to you. I know one thing - I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight. Look." 

She made her magic nimbus flare again. Jenrya looked and whistled. 

"Don't cast any spells while I'm nearby," he said. "You're overcharged - you're liable to burn down a forest in that state." 

"I know," she said. "And this loose cannon is running around the countryside with no idea what he's capable of. Can you imagine what would happen if someone really dangerous got him on their side?" 

Jenrya whistled again. 

"We've got to talk to him," he said. "Soon. Now." 

"Not now," Ruki replied. "Let him finish putting us together first, and _then_ we can try to convince him he's dangerous." 

Jenrya thought about arguing, but the aches of his injuries convinced him she might have a point, so they waited for the healer to finish what he was doing. Ruki had to admit, it was interesting watching her companions' faces as the healer worked and his patients slipped into blissful stupors, then snapped awake as the full force of what had been done hit them. 

"Whoa," said Takato. "That was weird..." 

"Sorry," said the healer. "I'm doing my best." 

"You might want to think about slacking off a bit," Jenrya told him. "I think you're trying a little too hard." 

"Really?" said the healer. "But... I have to, don't I? I'm not powerful..." 

Ruki shook her head. "Powerful enough. Who said you weren't good at this?" 

"My teacher," he answered promptly. "He said I barely had any potential, and he was just taking me on because he felt sorry for me. He only put me on the cases that were too unimportant for him to bother with - peasants with the pox and - and street women with infections." He blushed furiously. 

"Figures," Ruki muttered. "What was your teacher's name?" 

"He was Healer Willowstaff, of the city of Mainboard," answered the healer promptly. 

"Humph," said Ruki. "It figures." 

"What figures?" asked Takato. 

"Willowstaff. He always was an arrogant jerk," said Ruki. "He couldn't stand the idea that there was anyone out there better than him. Then _this_ guy comes along with powers that make him look like a snake-oil salesman. So what does he do? Convinces the poor kid he's no good and never will be, and then puts him on the lowest scum he can find - the ones with incurable fatal diseases - while he sticks with the nice, clean upper-crust who never get anything worse than a head cold. And I'll bet your patients lived, didn't they?" 

"Yes," said the healer slowly. "Now that you mention it... Willowstaff always said the common people were hardier, and could recover more quickly than delicate nobles." 

"Well, I've got news for you," said Ruki. "Willowstaff was a big fat liar. You, on the other hand, have some serious power going on, no matter what he says." 

"But..." the healer protested. Ruki felt sorry for him. 

"What's your name?" she asked him. 

"Kenta," he answered. "Kenta Kitagawa." 

"Well, Kenta Kitagawa," Ruki replied. "If I were you, I'd go back into training and find a real Healer to train you - preferably a priest of some sort. Most of those are too busy trying to please their deities to worry about their temporal powers - at least, the good ones are. I'd track down Priest Moonstone in Access City. He's one of the best, and a pretty nice guy, besides. He was my healing teacher when I was in school." 

"More training?" Kenta repeated. "Well, now that you mention it, mine was never officially finished..." 

"Why not?" asked Jenrya. 

Kenta shrugged. "Willowstaff died. Influenza. There was an epidemic, and he used up all his own magic and wouldn't take any of mine." 

Ruki shook her head. "Proud to the bitter end. Well, if I were you, Kenta, I'd dump your buddy Hirokazu and go finish your schooling." 

"But - but I can't!" Kenta protested. "I have to stay with Hirokazu!" 

"Why?" Takato demanded. 

"Because," said Kenta, "I owe him." 

"Owe him what?" Jenrya asked. 

"My life," Kenta explained. "A year or so ago, my village was attacked by Devidramon. I know some fighting magic, so I was trying to chase them away from my family. One of them got too close to me and would have killed me if Hirokazu hadn't been there. He killed it, and saved me and all my family. I owe him a life debt. I have to stay with him until I've paid it." 

"I see," said Jenrya slowly. "Yes, I've heard of customs like that. So, you have to follow Hirokazu around until you get a chance to save his life?" 

"That might not take long," Takato muttered. 

"Don't be too hard on him," said Kenta. "He's really not so bad, once you get to know him. He's just... got a lot to prove." 

"Those can be dangerous," Ruki murmured. "Those are the ones who kill themselves trying to take on things bigger than they can handle." 

Kenta's smile turned wry. "Maybe I won't have to wait long to pay my debt, then." 

"I can help you with that," said Takato. 

"Don't be like that," said Jenrya. 

"Why not? I thought he was my friend, and he was trying to kill me!" Takato said angrily. "For money! What did I ever do to him, that he's treating me like this?" 

"Why don't you ask him, next time you see him?" asked Kenta. "It might be easier than trying to kill each other." He got up and prepared to leave. "I need to go now. He might wake up and realize I'm not here. Good night." 

He started to walk off, and Ruki felt a pang of regret. Despite the company he kept, Kenta seemed to be an all right person... and, she had to admit, it would be very nice to have a powerful Healer around... She smacked her hand against her forehead. 

"I almost forgot!" she said. "Hey, you, wait up a minute!" 

Kenta stopped. "What?" 

"Come here a minute," she said. "I want to test one little thing, really quick." 

Looking puzzled, Kenta turned around and waited while Ruki went rummaging through her things. She took out the trusty old box and offered it to him. 

"Close your eyes and pick one," she instructed. 

"What is this?" he asked. 

"Just do it!" 

He did as he was told, running his hands over each of the devices. Ruki was not at all surprised to see that he stopped over the pale pink one, the one labeled "Healer". 

"There's something different about this one," he said. "It feels just like when I'm using magic..." 

"Keep it," said Ruki. "It's yours." 

His eyes snapped open. "I couldn't do that!" 

"You have to," Ruki said. "I don't think there's much choice in the matter. It's chosen you." 

"He's one of us?" asked Jenrya. 

"It looks that way," said Ruki with a sigh. "Great. Just what I wanted - more complications. Look, are you sure you have to go back to Hirokazu right now?" 

"Yes," Kenta answered. "Look, what's going on? What is this thing?" 

"We call it an Ark," said Ruki, "and it comes with some... interesting side effects. They seem to choose their owners, and that one has claimed you. That means that any moment now, the Digimon who goes with it is probably going to show up." 

"A Digimon?" Kenta repeated, looking around apprehensively. "Are you sure I have to keep this thing?" 

"Positive," she answered. "Rats. This is going to get tricky... because you're not on our side, are you?" 

"I'm not sure..." the healer replied. "I don't understand what you're talking about, but... I really think I need to go back where I came from." He took one last worried look at the Ark before resolutely putting it in his pocket. Before anyone could say anything else, he turned and fled back into the night. 

No one saw something small and pale flit away after him. 

~*~

"You know, it's really too bad that guy had to take off," Ruki commented, as she settled herself down to sleep again. 

"The Healer?" asked Jenrya. "I suppose he could have been useful." 

It had been some time since their unexpected visitor had vanished back into the forest, but it was only now that the two mages had unwound enough to feel ready to sleep again. The excess energy left by the overenthusiastic healing had been siphoned off to Antieramon, who seemed mildly improved after the attention. Maybe if they could get a solid night's sleep after all this, they would be able to patch him up enough in the morning that they could move on again, at least as long as it would take to find a more defensible position. 

"Definitely useful," Ruki agreed. "We certainly could use a Healer aboard, much as we seem to get bashed up, and he was a decent sort - the kind of guy who almost makes you look forward to breaking you leg or catching pneumonia." 

Jenrya laughed a little. "Maybe after he gets some more training. I've heard of people like that doing more harm than good when they get carried away." 

"True," said Ruki. "Lucky for him, he seems to have at least some instinctive control. I hate to think of him working with our enemies, though. He's good enough to be a major factor in all of this. People with his kind of talent can do almost anything - even raise the dead, sometimes." 

Takato, who had been dozing until that point, sat up in surprise. "People can do that?" 

"It's been known to happen," said Jenrya, nodding as if this were all very commonplace. 

Catching the swordsman's dumbstruck expression, Ruki said, "Don't imagine you're going to face off with a bunch of dancing skeletons. Even the ones with the gift can't just resurrect anyone. It only happens under special conditions. They can't raise someone who's been dead for more than a day or so, or someone who died of something they couldn't have healed in the first place, like beheading or old age." 

"Someone with that kind of power only comes along once every fifty years or so, if that often," said Jenrya. "It's very unusual." 

"Hm," said Takato. "I guess that could get pretty bad, knowing any enemy you killed might just pop up again later." 

"Exactly," said Ruki. "You surprise me - I wasn't sure you'd catch on so fast." 

"Hey, I'm a soldier, remember? I don't like having to kill people, but if I do, I want them to stay that way." 

Ruki looked at him, a puzzled light in her violet eyes. Takato had always appeared to her to be a nice, rather inoffensive person, and it surprised her to hear him talking about killing people, even if she'd known objectively that he must have been in mortal combat at some point, since he _was_ a soldier. He caught her look and shrugged. 

"I told you I don't like it," he said. "I'm lucky it doesn't happen often. Only when there's no other choice." 

She nodded. "I know. That's my life, too. Good night, all." 

They settled down to sleep. Jenrya and Terriermon had staked out the area closest to Antieramon, keeping a covert watch on him. Culumon curled up as close to the embers of the fire as he could without cooking himself, curling up into a cozy ball, with Ruki and Renamon sleeping back to back nearby. Takato himself stretched out on the ground near the edge of the forest, with Guilmon flopping at his feet like an oversized dog. However, sleep was a long way from Takato's mind. Perhaps it was only because of some restlessness caused by the fresh burst of strength the healing had given him, but he found that he could barely even close his eyes. Instead, he stared up at the sky and thought. 

Ruki might tease him because she was educated, had been to the University, while he had never known much besides the sword, but he _did_ have a working brain in his cranium. Now he put it to work, trying to solve the puzzle life had presented him in the form of Hirokazu. The day's performance, while unexpected, was not really that much of a shock. Hirokazu had always loved attention and acclaim, and the one place he'd been able to really shine was on the battlefield. The fact that the person he'd considered his best friend continually outshone him had been almost more than his pride could stand. There had been nothing for it but to start competing - first in friendly sparring, then in more serious contests of strength. In the end, Takato had decided it was too painful to have to be forever watching his back for someone he cared about, never quite feeling sure that he wouldn't feel a dagger between his ribs at some odd moment, or be struck by a sword he hadn't defended himself from because he couldn't bear to hurt his attacker. It was easier to disappear. 

*_So why is he here now? With me gone, he should be having fun being number one back at the barracks. Why is he roaming around where nobody can see him when he could be the center of attention in a big city somewhere?_* 

Takato rolled over on his side and turned the matter over in his mind. Why was Hirokazu here? Certainly not looking for him; he'd been completely surprised to find him here - not in the fulfillment of a vain hope way, but in a way that said that meeting was the last thing he'd expected. When he'd asked him, Hirokazu had cited less competition in the bounty-hunting trade. That sounded about right. Past facts bore out that he didn't care for competition. Of course he'd enjoy a line of work that allowed him to be the only one in the spotlight, with the possible exception of a rather weak-willed Healer who was willing to go along with anything he said. 

He'd also talked about money, which didn't sound right at all. Payment had never particularly mattered to him before, as far as Takato could remember. It had always been the glory of battle and the thrill of danger that moved him, not the price tag attached. 

*_It's an excuse,_* Takato decided. *_He doesn't want to admit what he's really doing, so he says its all about the money, and nobody questions him because that's what bounty hunters are always after. That's why they're called bounty hunters, isn't it?_* 

Which still left the real question: just what _was_ he after? Takato frowned, trying to logic it out. Reasoning wasn't necessarily his strong point, but he thought he had a good feel for human nature. He ought to know his friend well enough to guess what was wrong with him. Searching for clues, he reran their earlier meeting in his mind. What had upset him so much? Well, he hadn't started getting angry until Takato had refused to help him complete his job. He had _really_ been angry, though, at about the same time he'd been ranting at Takato for joining forces with Ruki... 

*_Wait a minute. That makes sense! Ruki's a legend - _everybody's_ heard of her... just like he wishes everybody had heard of him. Now I've gone and joined forces with her... I wonder if he knows who Jenrya is? He might be able to recognize him, or his employer might have told him. Even if he has no idea I'm traveling with a prince, he'll still know all about Ruki, and just the fact that she's treating me like anything even _close_ to an equal is going to make him green with envy. How is he supposed to know keeping company with a legend is just a long round of running from badguys and monsters and crazy sorcerers trying to kill me?_* 

He couldn't, of course. All he would comprehend was that somehow, his friend had gone from an absent nonentity to near-legendary status. In that kind of situation, Hirokazu almost _had_ to do something drastic to satisfy his pride. 

*_I'll bet anything he's working for Yamaki. That would be just like him. No matter how ambitious he is, he's still a soldier - he needs someone to work for, to give him orders. Knowing him, he'd look for the most important person he could find. With the king out of commission, Yamaki was probably the most important person left... next to Ruki. Good grief, I'm upstaging him _again_ and I wasn't even trying! No wonder he's mad at me!_* 

Takato sighed miserably. If only he could sit down and _talk_ to Hirokazu, without having to worry about getting a sword run through him, maybe he could get this mess straightened out! But there wasn't much chance of that happening. He didn't even know where Hirokazu was right now, and... 

Wait. Hadn't someone said something about Kenta being able to sneak away from his partner's side because Hirokazu was sleeping off a round of drinks? He was sure someone had said something of that nature while they were explaining the Healer's presence in their camp. He had been mildly disturbed by the pronunciation; he had never known his friend to indulge in that kind of thing, not in a profession where sluggish reflexes could get his head chopped off. Takato shook off a faint unease and forced himself to keep his mind on one issue at a time. Where did one buy drinks? Not in the middle of the woods, that was for sure. You got them at a public house, which was in a town. Public houses usually had rooms upstairs where travelers - and roaming warriors - could stay the night. The nearest town was Wire Junction, just down the road. It was small enough that it was not likely to have more than one public house. When you found that, you found Hirokazu. 

"Hey, Guilmon," he said, nudging the dinosaur with his foot. "Wanna take a walk with me?" 

"Okay," said Guilmon agreeably. "Where are we going?" 

"We're going to go to town," Takato replied, "to have a chat with my old friend." 

~*~

Kenta walked slowly through the forest, in no real hurry to get back to his sleeping friend. Alcohol made Hirokazu disagreeable, and Kenta hated a scene. He would just as soon not be around when his friend was drunk and in a bad mood. Besides, he had a lot to think about. Almost against his will, his hand went to the pocket where he'd stashed the strange device Ruki had given him. 

*_I shouldn't be keeping this thing. They're enemies; we already attacked them once. They're likely to plant a bomb on me or something._* 

Nevertheless, he had a hard time making himself believe that this machine was really dangerous. Touching it spread a tingling warmth across his fingers, a pleasant sensation that he had a hard time associating with anything bad. Besides, who would paint an explosive pink? 

He took it out and studied it by the dim moonlight. It sat there, gleaming softly. It fit comfortably in his hand, as if it belonged there. Ruki had said it had chosen him, and he _did_ get the oddest feeling that it was in some way content to be there with him. She had said that there was magic at work, and more importantly, that there was a Digimon that came with this odd little machine... but that was preposterous. All his life, he had been told that every Digimon from the largest to the smallest was wild and dangerous, impossible to tame. 

Then again, the Digimon who had been sitting around the campsite had seemed peaceful enough. None of them had offered to do more than look at him while he had been doing his healing. More than that, they hadn't looked at him with the wary expressions of, say, attack dogs, but with intelligence. They had comprehended what he was doing there, and would watch him only enough to ensure that he was not planning to trick them. As soon as he had finished what he was doing, most of them had gone back to sleep. 

*_Hm. Well, I suppose if you're a warrior, having a friendly Digimon around to watch your back is a pretty good thing. Just knowing they're around would be enough to make most people think twice!_* 

No, those Digimon weren't the monsters they'd been painted as. He had always harbored a suspicion that they couldn't really be as bad as all that, if only because, if they were, why didn't they attack any human who dared set foot outside the walls of their town? If the Digimon were really such bloodthirsty killers, it would be impossible for anyone to manage any kind of safe travel. That was his logic, anyway. It could have just been a Healer's gentle nature, believing the best of anyone. 

On the other hand, he didn't think _he_ wanted a Digimon around. Healers didn't need a bunch of scary monsters hanging around them, even if the monster in question was gentle behind its claws and talons. It was his opinion that stressed patients did not heal as quickly or as well as patients who were properly relaxed. The last thing he needed hanging around him was something most people viewed as the bane of the earth and the most dangerous things alive. He probably couldn't _pay_ someone to let him work on them while he had a Digimon lurking around! 

Even as he was thinking that, he heard something rustling in the treetops. He froze, staring around frantically. 

*_It's just a bird. Or a bat. Not a Digimon._* 

The thing rustled again. It sounded closer. Kenta began trying to back away from it, even as he knew the gesture was pointless. He was in the middle of nowhere, alone in the dark, far enough from both the town and his enemies' camp that there would be no help on any front, and he was not a woodsman. He didn't know where or how to hide, and his pale cloak made him stand out in the dark forest like the moon in the night sky. If there was something out there looking for him, they would find him. 

The trees rustled again, now just above him, and Kenta froze, staring. There was something flitting around up there, something small and fast and pale. It seemed to shine softly with its own light, as if a star had come down to have a closer look at the earth. Odd, Kenta thought distractedly, how he could come up with such poetic similes in such a precarious situation. Suddenly, the thing gave a squeal and launched itself at him. Kenta braced himself for teeth and claws... 

They didn't come. Instead, something small, light, and warm collided with his chest and started trying to hug him with a pair of tiny flippers that were utterly unsuited to the job. Kenta stared at it, dumbfounded. He had never seen anything quite like this creature - a tiny, pale-pink, winged being that he could easily have held in his hands. It stared up at him with innocent green eyes and chattered happily. 

"What in the world?" said Kenta. 

"Pa pi pu pe po!" 

"You don't say." 

"Pa pi pu!" 

"Can you talk?" 

The little creature chattered at him. It seemed to find his question amusing, and he had a feeling the chattering meant something along the lines of, "I _am_ talking, silly!" 

"Are you a... a Digimon?" asked Kenta, even as he realized it was a silly question. Nothing else could have such a peculiar blend of characteristics as this creature. 

"Pa pi!" 

"Did you come looking for me?" 

"Pa pi!" The Digimon nodded vigorously. 

"Um," said Kenta. He was not entirely sure about this situation. "Why me?" 

More chattering. Kenta listened, feeling faintly overwhelmed. What he was hearing was complete gibberish, but somehow, he knew the creature was telling him something, and he had a feeling he knew what it meant. The Digimon was saying that it had come looking for Kenta, because they were partners. It was happy to see him, too - it had been very lonely living in the forest on his own. He was so glad to have finally found the one he was waiting for! 

"There's got to be some mistake," said Kenta. "You can't have been waiting for _me_." 

"Pa pe po?" Why not? 

"Well, I'm - I'm a _Healer_, okay? Not a warrior. I don't have any use for a Digimon." 

The Digimon laughed, a tiny squeaky trill that made Kenta want to smile in spite of himself. It chattered again. What, it wanted to know, did Kenta think it was? Did it look like a warrior to Kenta? It made a face that came nowhere near looking ferocious and waved imaginary claws at the air. Then it dissolved into giggles again. Kenta smiled weakly. 

"Yeah, I guess you aren't much of a fighter, are you?" he said. "What do you do, then?" 

"Pa pa pi pu!" Just wait and see! 

Kenta considered this a moment. He was feeling just a trifle overwhelmed, and under the circumstances, and in need of some authoritative figure to tell him what he was supposed to do next. Ruki - she had known this was going to happen. She seemed to know what was going on here. Was this a trap she had planted for him, or...? 

"I think I need to talk to someone," said Kenta. "Do you want to come?" 

The Digimon nodded vigorously - anywhere Kenta wanted to go was okay with him. 

*_He can't be as bad as all that,_* Kenta thought. *_How could this little pink sugar frilly thing be dangerous? Anyway, it looks like I'm stuck with it. I might as well be nice to it._* 

"My name's Kenta," he informed his new companion. "Do you have a name?" 

"Pa pi pu pa pe po pu." 

"Marine Angemon," Kenta repeated. "An angel Digimon?" 

His new Digimon nodded and chattered his affirmative. 

"Nice to meet you, Marine Angemon," said Kenta. "Come on. There are some people I think should meet you." 

~*~

The innkeeper at the Agumon's Tail was an old, gnarled fellow who had seen thousands of people come in and out the doors of his establishment. He had stood through tavern brawls and even a small forcible invasion without suffering a great deal of damage, and continued to evade the law on the rather fuzzy matter of what exactly went on in some of his upstairs rooms. There was not a lot left that could upset his equanimity, and so he took his latest midnight visitor with the same stoic expression he took everything else. 

"You say you're looking for a mercenary soldier?" he asked in the uninterested tone he used for anything that didn't have money involved. 

"That's right," said Takato. "About my height, brown hair, gray eyes, probably traveling with a guy in a white cloak. I was told I could find him here." 

"Might be," said the innkeeper. "Why would you be wanting to speak to him, eh?" 

"He's a friend of mine," answered Takato, who saw no reason to be dishonest. "We had a - a misunderstanding, and I was hoping I could talk to him and clear things up." 

"You won't be doing much talking to him, I'm thinking, in the state he's in," the innkeeper replied. 

"So he _is_ here," said Takato. 

"The innkeeper grimaced. "Aye, that he is. Though you might be better off waiting until the morning to speak with him." 

"I can't wait until morning. Can you tell me where he is, please?" 

"Second floor. Third room on your right. Cause any trouble, though, and you'll regret it. I won't have you disturbing the guests." 

"Wouldn't dream of it," Takato answered, and headed for the stairs. 

Finding the door the innkeeper had indicated, Takato rapped lightly on the wood. 

"Anybody home in there?" he called. His only answer was a soft snore. Well, that wasn't informative. Oh, well. If this was the wrong door, whoever was behind it didn't sound like they were in any shape to protest if he wanted to come in. Finding the door unlocked, Takato opened it and went in. 

He immediately recognized the sleeping figure that was sprawled across the bed. It was undoubtably Hirokazu, sleeping like the dead. He hadn't even pulled the blankets over himself, or even taken off his boots. Aside from the heaviest parts of his armor, which were piled haphazardly next to the bed, he was still fully dressed. He looked less like he'd gotten there under his own power and more as if his attendant Healer had deposited him there before sneaking off on his own mission. It crossed Takato's mind to wonder where Kenta was - he had left the camp before Takato had; surely he'd have made it here by now, wouldn't he? He decided not to look into the matter too closely; there were more important things to think about. 

Taking a few steps into the dimly lit room, his foot encountered something that clunked and rolled, and he hurriedly reached down to stop it, old instincts warning him not to make more noise than he had to. The obstacle proved to be an empty bottle, bearing a picture of a masked and hooded man along with the label, "Seigram's Gin." Takato shook his head as he placed the bottle carefully upright again. So, his friend really _had_ been drinking. That was strange. While no one would say that a man of eighteen couldn't drink what he wanted, people in his trade were generally discouraged from using alcohol much or often. A warrior who was drunk or drugged would not be as able to think clearly or react quickly, putting himself and his comrades in danger. Maybe a little celebrating for a feast or holiday was all right, but routinely putting oneself in a stupor was frowned upon. The only soldiers Takato knew of who engaged in that kind of behavior were the ones who had been badly injured and couldn't afford Healers, and therefore drank to dull the pain, or the ones who had lost loved ones, or the ones who drank to drown their guilt... 

*_Guilt? I never knew Hirokazu to be big on guilt. What's he got to feel guilty about... except, maybe, trying to hurt his best friend?_* 

Experimentally, he crept closer to the bed and carefully prodded his sleeping friend in the shoulder - one didn't startle a sleeping swordsman no matter what kind of shape he was in. Hirokazu snorted a little but otherwise didn't show any signs of waking. With a shrug, Takato walked across the room, where stood a small dresser. There was a large pewter jug of water sitting on top of it, as well as a bowl that stood in place of a washbasin. He filled the bowl with water, and, returning to Hirokazu's side, dumped its contents over his head. 

"Wah!" Hirokazu shouted, sitting up and spluttering. "What? Where? Who did that?" 

"Hi, Kazu," said Takato. "Awake now?" 

Instead of replying, Hirokazu dropped back into bed with a whimper. "Ow, my head... what'd you do that for?" 

"I wanted you to wake up," said Takato. "Here." 

He poured some of the remaining water from the jug into the bowl and offered it to him. Hirokazu, finding that his earlier drinks had left his mouth feeling cotton-dry and bad tasting, accepted the cool water eagerly. 

"Better now?" asked Takato, when the last drop was gone. 

"A little," said Hirokazu. He turned to his friend with a gaze that was reasonably steady, all things considered. "What are you doing here, anyway? Weren't you in the woods last time I looked?" 

"I moved," said Takato. 

"Ah," said Hirokazu. "That makes sense. Why'd you move into my room?" 

"Because I wanted to talk." 

"Look, there's nothing to talk about," Hirokazu said, beginning to bristle. "You already made it pretty clear you don't want to help me." 

"Take it easy," said Takato soothingly. "Just give me a chance to explain, okay?" 

"There's nothing to explain," Hirokazu answered. "I know it all already. You ran off with a legend, and left me to scratch out a living in the dust... You just thought you were too good for me..." 

"I never thought that." 

"Yes, you did. That's why you left." 

"Look, don't talk like that," said Takato. "Now is not a good time to pick fights with me. I'm still armed and armored, and I've got a Digimon outside who will be really upset if he thinks you might be trying to hurt me. If he hears a fight start, you'll be in trouble." That wasn't technically true; Takato didn't know what Guilmon would do, if anything, but Hirokazu didn't know that, either. 

Hirokazu tried to muddle through that, then shook his head. The movement sparked off his headache again, and he winced. Takato felt sorry for him. 

"What did you do this to yourself for, anyway?" he asked. "You look miserable. You can't fight like this." 

"Kenta'll make it better in the morning." 

"Yeah, but Kenta's not here right now," Takato pointed out. "If somebody wanted to walk in here and stab you in the back or rob you blind, you couldn't have stopped them. You're just asking to be killed. You know that. Why are you doing it?" 

Hirokazu frowned. "I don't know." 

"Well, maybe you should think about it." 

It was uncertain whether he took Takato's advice, but he did remain quiet for a few minutes. However, the idea he eventually lit upon was of a bit more immediate importance to him than a drinking problem. 

"Where's the privy?" 

Takato rolled his eyes a little. "I don't know, I just got here. Shouldn't you make sure of things like that before you need them?" 

"I had other things on my mind!" 

"Humph." Takato frowned, thinking. "I think I saw an outhouse in back." 

"Figures," said Hirokazu. "Betcha the help around here is too lazy to want to clean chamber pots." 

"Would you?" 

"Never mind. Look - gimme a hand, would you?" 

Takato helped to haul his friend to his feet. However, once up, he was steady enough on his feet that he made it to the door without help and with only a minimum of stumbling. He was certainly in better shape that Takato had guessed he would be; perhaps the Healer considered it his duty not only to help his friend when he was in trouble, but to try to keep him out of it in the first place. He had a brief vision of Kenta trying to pry a bottle out of Hirokazu's hand as he dragged him up to his room. Takato and his friend made their way to the back of the building and toward a small shack in the back. While Hirokazu was conducting his business inside, Takato leaned on the wall - carefully; the structure looked none too sound, and it would be highly embarrassing to knock it over while Hirokazu was still inside, and wouldn't do much for smoothing over their differences. 

"There has got to be a better lodging place in this town somewhere," he commented. 

"So, what did you really come out here for, anyway?" asked Hirokazu, his voice muffled by the wood. "Did your sorceress dump you, or what?" 

"Ruki's not my sorceress," Takato replied, "or anyone else's. And I already told you, I came to talk to you." 

"Why?" 

"Why?" Takato repeated. "Because you're my friend. Because I missed you after I left. Because I'd rather we not be trying to kill each other. Are those good reasons?" 

"They would be, if I believed them." 

"Why don't you?" 

"If you were really my friend, why did you go off and leave me?" 

"Because I was sick and tired of fighting with you!" 

"You mean you couldn't stand the competition." 

"Hey, _you're_ the one who couldn't stand competition! I never cared one way or the other." 

"If you don't care, what are you doing setting yourself with the most famous Cardmage in the world, huh?" Hirokazu demanded, stepping out of the outhouse. "Why couldn't you settle for just being a soldier like the rest of us." 

"I didn't set myself up!" Takato protested. "It just sort of happened." 

"Yeah, like I believe that. Tell me another one." 

"Takato?" A pair of golden eyes blinked open in the shadows. 

"Yow!" said Hirokazu, jumping away from the eyes. He hit the outhouse, which lurched backwards with an alarming creak. "What is that?" 

"This is Guilmon. My Digimon friend," Takato answered, as the reptile stepped into the light. 

"A Digimon," said Hirokazu. "Man. I knew you traveled with them, but... good grief, look at the _teeth_ on that thing! Aren't you nervous?" 

"About Guilmon? No way. The only thing he bites with those teeth is bread," Takato replied. "He loves the stuff, for some reason. Maybe because it doesn't grow it in the wild. What is it, boy?" 

"There's a Digimon looking around out here," Guilmon replied. "I thought you might want to know." He sat back casually and began scratching his ear with a hind foot. 

Hirokazu looked around. He could distantly see the top of the fence that surrounded the city. "Um... are Digimon supposed to be able to get in here?" 

Guilmon blinked benignly. "I don't know. Are they?" 

"No," said Takato. "Okay, let's be calm about this. We don't know what it wants; it could be friendly. Can you tell what kind of Digimon it is, Guilmon?" 

Guilmon sat up and sniffed the air, nostrils twitching as he sorted through the night odors of town humans and livestock and cooking smells. 

"Big," he declared at last. 

"How big?" Takato persisted. 

"Big," said Guilmon. "Bigger than me, but not as big as Antieramon." 

"How can he smell how big something is?" asked Hirokazu. 

Takato shrugged. "Don't ask me. Maybe he's talking about levels? Guilmon's a Rookie; Antieramon's an Ultimate, so maybe whatever's lurking around out there is a Champion." 

Hirokazu sized up Guilmon. Standing at his full height, he was nearly as tall as Hirokazu himself was, and armed with long claws and a mouthful of sharp teeth. 

"I don't want to meet anything bigger than him," Hirokazu said. "Not right now. Preferably not ever." 

"Well, maybe we won't have to," said Takato, ever optimistic. "I mean, after all, there's no reason for-" 

_Clunk!_ A heavy footstep resounded in the quiet night. Both young men turned to face the sound, just as another _clunk_ sounded. Squinting into the shadows, they could see a shape - a very large, broad, solid-looking shape that was moving slowly but steadily towards them. 

"Never mind how that thing got in," said Hirokazu, staring. "I'll bet that thing just _walked_ through the walls!" 

"Um, do you think now would be a good time to make a strategic retreat?" asked Takato. 

There was another heavy _clunk_, and then a crunch. Hirokazu looked at Takato. 

"I think that would be a good idea." 

~*~

"Help me!" 

For the second time that night, Ruki was jolted from an uneasy sleep, and wondered bitterly just what it was _this_ time. She was starting to get annoyed by these late-night distractions, and was beginning to think it would be merciful for someone to kill her just so she could get some rest. She sat up and looked around, taking in her surroundings in a split second: Renamon standing at full alert, Jenrya sitting up with his hand at his sword, Terriermon with his hackles raised, Culumon hiding under the nearest shrub, and something crashing through the underbrush. 

"Ruki, you've got to help me," panted a familiar voice. 

Ruki sat up and glared as a familiar personage came dashing out of the trees, looking somewhat breathless and clutching at a stitch in his side. 

"You again," she said. "What's gotten you so upset now? If somebody's done your friend in, don't come looking to me for help; whoever it was did us all a favor. 

"That's not it," Kenta panted. "_That's_ it." 

"Huh?" 

Staring into the darkness, Ruki could just make out a small, flitting object that she had at first taken to be just a stray shaft of moonlight. Now she could see that it was moving of its own volition - that it was alive. She blinked and looked at it again. 

"You came all this way because of a baby Digimon?" she asked. 

"Wait," said Jenrya, giving the creature a thoughtful look. "That's not a hatchling; that Digimon is fully-grown." 

"A Champion?" asked Kenta, blinking at the tiny shining thing. 

Jenrya shook his head. "A Mega. Nothing else could have that much power. Test it yourself, if you want." 

"I think I'll pass," said Kenta. "I just want to know what I'm supposed to do with it. It won't stop following me. It says its my partner." 

"Then it is," said Ruki, rolling over. She wanted to go back to sleep. "Don't worry about it. Mega or not, it doesn't look like it's going to hurt you." 

"Don't think so," Terriermon agreed, hopping over for a better look. "Actually, he's kinda cute." 

"But what am I going to _do_?" Kenta persisted. 

"Go to sleep," Ruki suggested. "It's late." 

Jenrya took pity on him. "It's not so bad, once you get used to the idea. The Digimon actually make pretty good friends, once they get to like you. They're not nearly as bad as people have made them out to be." 

"That's not it," said Kenta, shaking his head. "It's just - I'm a _Healer_. Digimon are fighters. Even if this little guy looks cute and friendly, he's still a Mega. He's powerful. I'm not the right person to use that kind of power." 

"The Ark thought you were," Ruki pointed out. "So does he, apparently." 

"But...." said Kenta helplessly. 

Meanwhile, Marine Angemon was flitting around the camp, giving everything a curious inspection. He hovered over Ruki's Cards and found no earthly use for them, gave Jenrya's sword a brief examination before rejecting it with a disapproving squeak, and flitted over to the bush where Culumon was hiding. He flew a circle around it and chirped a few times. Culumon stepped cautiously out into the open. 

"Culu, culu?" he said. 

"Pi pu pi!" Marine Angemon replied. 

"Culu, culu, culu!" 

"Pu pa pi pi po." 

"Culu?" 

"Pa pi pu!" 

Jenrya laughed a little. "I think they like each other!" 

"What was that all about?" Ruki wondered. 

"Well, I don't know what the white one was saying," Kenta replied, "but I think they just came to an agreement." 

"You understood what he was saying?" asked Jenrya, indicating Marine Angemon. 

"Of course. Can't you?" 

"Not really," Jenrya admitted. 

"Well, they sounded like they were debating something. Marine Angemon just agreed to it, whatever it was." 

"Marine Angemon, did you say?" Renamon repeated. 

Kenta jumped. "It talks!" 

"Of course I talk," Renamon replied. "You just said you could understand the other creature; why be surprised that I speak?" 

"Well, because... he doesn't talk like humans do. I just know what he means," answered Kenta defensively. 

"You ought to consider yourself lucky," said Renamon. "I have heard of Marine Angemon, but I have never seen one myself. Legend holds that they bring good fortune to those they honor with their presence." 

"Really?" said Kenta, with a trace of disbelief. It was pardonable, considering the way the ethereal pink creature was cavorting around the campsite. 

Yet, even as he watched, Marine Angemon seemed to tire of his play and become serious. He drifted over to where Antieramon lay, examining him carefully from his toes to the tips of his long ears. 

"Hey, you leave him alone!" said Terriermon defensively. He doesn't need you messing with him!" 

"Quiet, small one, and let the 'mon work," Renamon scolded. 

Chirping quietly to himself, Marine Angemon began fluttering in circles over the injured Digimon. Gradually, light began to form around him, light that resolved into bubbles - blue bubbles that glowed vividly with their own light. The others gathered around to watch the light show. Much to their amazement, where the glowing lights touched the sleeping rabbit, his wounds healed up, burns smoothed over, and new fur grew in. Within a few minutes, he was sitting up, blinking his ruby eyes as he looked up at the dark sky. 

"Where am I?" he murmured. 

Marine Angemon chattered, clearly pleased with himself, and fluttered over to Kenta for a word of praise. Kenta looked from the newly-healed Digimon to Marine Angemon and back again. 

"You healed him," said Kenta slowly. 

"Pa pi!" 

"Is that what you do?" he asked. "You're a Healer... a Digimon Healer." 

"Pa pi!" 

"That's wonderful!" Kenta exclaimed. "I never knew that Digimon had Healers... You can heal the ones I can't..." 

Marine Angemon chattered happily. To the others it was only gibberish, but to Kenta, it sounded like, "You and I, we can do _anything_ together! Just you wait and see!" 

"Guess Digimon are good for something after all," said Ruki. 

"I guess so," answered Kenta, looking sheepish. "But I mean, you're all warriors, and your Digimon are fighters, too, so I just thought... well, you know." 

"Culumon's not a fighter," said Jenrya. "And Terriermon doesn't really _look_ dangerous, but he can do a lot in a pinch. I don't know about Guilmon sometimes, though... By the way, where _is_ Guilmon?" 

Everyone looked around, for the first time realizing that Guilmon - and his partner - were nowhere to be seen. 

~*~

"Is it following us?" panted Hirokazu, running full tilt up the road. 

"I don't know! Keep moving!" Takato called back. 

The two of them were hurrying out of town as fast as their feet could carry them, fleeing the town and the dark thing that clunked in the night. Hirokazu was mentally berating himself for leaving his armor and weapons back at the inn; Takato was wishing he wasn't burdened with the same things. It would be so much easier to run if he wasn't carrying such a load, and he didn't like the idea of trying to stop and fight an unknown Digimon. Guilmon didn't seem bothered by anything, loping along beside them with no evidence of discomfort. 

"It's still back there," he informed them. "I think it wants to come with us." 

"Oh, great," said Hirokazu, rolling his eyes. One good thing - their panicked dash seemed to be sweating the alcohol out of his veins, and he was coming around with a vengeance. "Maybe it wants to be friends!" 

"Maybe!" said Guilmon, completely missing the sarcasm. 

"Well, I don't want to hang around and find out," said Takato. "Come on, the forest is just up ahead. Maybe we can lose it in the trees or something." 

They reached the edge of the forest and went crashing into the underbrush, looking for a sturdy tree they could use as an escape route. Reaching a thick-trunked oak, Takato made a flying jump and managed to catch hold of a branch and swing himself into the treetop. Guilmon simply hooked his claws into the bark and scurried like a lizard into the leaves. Hirokazu, however, was not so agile. He jumped for the branch and missed, and landed with a thump and a stream of swear words. He got up and tried again, but had no more success than he had the first time. Meanwhile, the quiet night echoed with the distant thuds of something heavy clomping up the road. 

"Oh, great," Takato muttered. 

He jumped down from the tree and went to give Hirokazu a boost, kneeling in the fallen leaves long enough to help his friend scramble up onto the branch. Then he pulled himself up into the leafy shelter, and was surprised to feel Hirokazu reaching down to help him up. 

"Thanks," Takato panted, bracing himself in the crook of two limbs. 

"No problem," said Hirokazu. "You helped me, didn't you?" 

"I had to," Takato replied. "I wasn't about to let that thing get you." 

"Why not?" asked Hirokazu. "After the way I've been acting, you ought to be glad to be rid of me." 

"That's not true. You're my friend." 

"You're a better friend than I deserve," Hirokazu said softly. 

Takato knew when to stay quiet. 

"I used to think... I would be glad to have you go away," Hirokazu continued. "Everybody liked you. You were good at everything. I was tired of being ignored. I thought I'd be happy if you just went away and let me have the spotlight for a change." 

"Weren't you?" 

"For a while. After a while, though, it got... boring. There was no point in any of it, so I left. I thought I'd go out on the road and have some real _adventures_, know what I mean? Fight monsters, rescue damsels, meet great sorcerers, all that stuff they tell stories about. Instead it's all tromping around the countryside getting attacked, and for what? Nothing. I haven't got anything to show for it." 

"It's about the same here, you know," said Takato. 

"I don't know," Hirokazu answered. "What's she like?" 

"Who?" 

"Ruki Makino. The Cardmage." 

"She's okay. I like her. She's got a lot of guts, and she doesn't take anything from anybody. She's doing her best to be a good leader for us." 

"She doesn't act all high and mighty and like that?" Hirokazu persisted. 

"Well, maybe when she's in a bad mood, or when she's showing off... but she's still a real person, Kazu. She eats breakfast and gets hurt and gets grouchy in the morning, just like the rest of us. And she swears like a sailor when she's mad." 

Hirokazu laughed. "Seriously?" 

"I've heard her! She puts even _you_ to shame." 

"I'd like to hear that." 

"You can, you know," said Takato. "You can meet her, if you want." 

"For real?" 

"Why not? Your buddy's already been by, and he was okay. I'm sure they'll let you come along too. We've got to be better company than Yamaki." 

"You know about him?" 

"He tried to kill us the other night. That might count as knowing." 

"Oh," said Hirokazu. "But... I tried to kill you guys..." 

Takato shrugged. "So did Jenrya, when we first met him, and we like him." 

"Jenrya?" 

"Prince Jenrya. King Janyuu's son. He's with us, too." 

"And he'd be okay with me?" 

"Sure," said Takato. "Look - it doesn't matter to any of us if you're a mage or a prince or a Digimon just a soldier. We're all in this together. We can't go pulling rank on each other. We're a team. More than that, we're friends. And you're still my friend, if you'll let me be." 

Hirokazu shook his head. "You're too nice to be a soldier, Takato." 

"The Digimon is getting closer," said Guilmon, sniffing the air. "Is that good or bad?" 

"Depends," said Takato. 

"So much for meeting your friends," said Hirokazu. "We're never even going to get out of this tree!" 

"Maybe if we're quiet, it won't find us," Takato suggested. 

They became still. The clomping footsteps came closer, first booming loudly as they clomped on the hard-packed road, then turning to crunches as they stomped over the underbrush. They stopped directly below the tree. 

"All right," boomed an authoritative voice. "I know you're up there! Come down and accept your punishment like men!" 

"Punishment?" repeated Hirokazu, surprised into speaking. "What did we do?" 

"Don't play innocent with me, varlet!" shouted the Digimon. "You can't fool me! I saw you breaking the law, and you will be punished!" 

"Who are you calling a varlet?" called Takato. "I'm an honest mercenary! I haven't broken any laws!" 

"You deny it?" the voice said incredulously. "I saw you go into that town leading a Digimon! Don't think I don't know that's not allowed! The fence was build and guards posted to keep Digimon out! I may not like it, but I respect the rules, and the rules say, no Digimon!" 

"Is that what's gotten you all ticked off?" asked Hirokazu. 

"That is, indeed, my grievance," said the voice, "and you will pay for your disobedience!" 

"And who are you to tell us what to do?" asked Takato. 

"I am Guardromon!" the voice boomed. "It is my bounden duty to defend the weak and protect the innocent, and I will not stand for rogues disrupting order!" 

"A Guardromon," said Takato. "Well, that makes sense. No wonder he's mad about us breaking rules." 

"A Digimon soldier," Hirokazu mused. "That's kinda funny. Hey, Guardromon, I've got a question?" 

"Then ask, knave," Guardromon boomed back, "but don't think you can fast-talk your way out of your punishment!" 

"Okay. You say the law forbids letting Digimon into the city, right?" 

"Correct." 

"All right. What do you think is a fair punishment for doing that?" 

"Well-" 

"I tell you what I think," said Hirokazu quickly. "If I'm going to let Digimon into the city, the fair thing to do is to get them out again. Does that make sense?" 

"Ye-es..." 

"Well, we have," said Hirokazu. "So we don't need any more punishing." 

"But-" 

"On the other hand," the bounty hunter continued, "I heard _you_ clomping around inside the city, making all kinds of noise, stepping on things, and generally causing a nuisance." 

"Well, I-" said Guardromon, and stopped. "Goodness, so I did. This is awful? What will I do now? I must make amends..." 

"You can start by getting us out of this tree," said Hirokazu. 

"Of course, good sirs!" Guardromon agreed. "I apologize profusely for my unfair accusation. Anything I can do for you..." 

"On the ground, please," Hirokazu said. 

"Right," Guardromon replied. 

Within moments, the three of them were comfortably situated on solid earth once more, looking up at their strange new acquaintance. He had the look of a large machine, completely plated in brown metal with bronze fittings, with only two green eyes peering out of a viewslit to show there might be something more to him than a large robot. They could see that he was nearly as broad as he was tall, with a solid air to him that made them glad he had decided they were friends and not enemies. They didn't want to think about what kind of justice those large metal arms would dish out. 

"Thanks for the lift, Guardromon," said Hirokazu. 

"No trouble at all," the robot assured him. "It is the least I can do for you. I beg your forgiveness for troubling you. Please, allow me to make up for it." 

"Oh, that's not really-" Takato began. 

"Like how?" Hirokazu asked. 

"I can see by your garb that you two are swordsmen. Perhaps I can be of use to you. Any protection I can offer is yours for the asking." 

"Sounds like a good deal to me," said Hirokazu. "What do you think, Takato?" 

Takato sized up Guardromon and decided it wasn't worth arguing with him. "Well, if he really wants to be helpful, he might as well come. We can always use someone to watch our backs." 

"Excellent!" Guardromon said. "You will not find in all the land a more loyal protector!" 

Takato shrugged. "Fine with me. How about starting by protecting our campsite? I'm getting tired." 

"Lead the way!" said Guardromon. "I shall follow wherever you lead!" 

"Is he always going to be like this?" Takato asked as they began to walk. 

Hirokazu shrugged. "Look on the bright side - he could still be mad at us." 

They arrived at the riverside camp to find a good deal more activity than they had left. Ruki and Renamon were prowling the perimeters of the camp, while Marine Angemon, Culumon, and Terriermon played in the grass. Jenrya sat next to Antieramon and Kenta, filling them in on what had been going on thus far. All of them turned to look when the soldiers and the Digimon arrived. 

"There you are!" said Ruki. "We were wondering what happened to you, Takato. Where have you been?" 

"Just picking up some friends," said Takato, plopping back down on his bedroll. "Gang, meet Guardromon. He wants to come along." 

"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen," said Guardromon, executing a bow with agility that was surprising for his bulk. "It is an honor and a privilege." 

"Well, at least his manners are good," said Jenrya. "Good to meet you, Guardromon. We always welcome friends here." 

"That's your opinion," said Ruki, sizing up Hirokazu and Guardromon. "Hm, this is interesting. What do you think, Jen? Show 'em the box?" 

"It can't hurt," Jenrya replied. 

Hirokazu looked blank. "What box?" 

"Don't worry; it's not so bad," said Kenta, who was now cradling Marine Angemon in his arms. "Just look at the Digimon it brought me!" 

Ruki produced the box of Arks and proffered it to Hirokazu. 

"Close your eyes," she instructed, "and touch each one. Tell me if one of them feels different than the others." 

Hirokazu looked as if he thought she'd gone crazy, but apparently decided it was wisest not to argue with a sorceress. He did as he was told, running his fingers over the few remaining Arks. His hand came to a stop on the brown one. 

"Weird," he said. "This one... it's humming. It feels like steel, and engines..." 

"It's yours," said Ruki. "Congratulations, Hirokazu. You're one of us." 

"It's that easy?" said Hirokazu, picking up the device and studying it. 

"The Ark chose you," said Takato. "That machine binds you to a Digimon... probably that one." 

Hirokazu looked at the Ark, and then at Guardromon. His eyes roved around the circle of firelight, taking in each of the humans and their partners. He smiled slowly. 

"Just like a legend," he said softly. Then he beamed. "All right! That settles it. I'm with you guys - wherever you're going, whatever you're doing, I'm coming too!" 

"Great. Just what we needed," said Ruki. "More followers. I don't know whether we're an adventuring party or a traveling circus." 

"Neither," said Jenrya. "We're something different. We're... we're Digimon Tamers, that's what we are." 

"Digimon Tamers," Ruki repeated. "That does about sum it up, doesn't it?" 

"I guess so," said Takato, yawning. 

"So," said Hirokazu, "now that we're all here, what do we do now? What happens next?" 

"Now," said Ruki, "we sleep. I'm bushed. Good night, folks." 

"Huh?" said Hirokazu. "But..." 

"Good night," said Jenrya. 

A swift gesture made the fire die down to red embers. One by one, the Tamers lay down on the soft grass, until only Hirokazu and Guardromon were left. The soldier stared. 

"Isn't that always the way?" he muttered. "Oh, well. Want to stand watch, Guardromon?" 

"Of course," he answered. "That's what I do best." 

They settled down next to the fire, Hirokazu resting against his newfound partner's solid back. They stared quietly off into the darkness, listening to the soft night noises. Hirokazu stared thoughtfully up at the stars as they blinked through the leaves. 

*_Now, this is more like what I thought heroing would be like,_* he mused. *_Magic and monsters... I'm going to enjoy this. And I tamed a Digimon, and got chosen by a magical box. That's something to talk about. Hm, me, a legend..._* 

He smiled, closing his eyes to savor the image. Within a few moments, he was sound asleep. 


	4. The Temple and the Priest

**

The Temple and the Priest

**   
**

By: SilvorMoon

**

It was a mercifully quiet morning. After the events of the last couple of nights, the entire group was feeling more inclined to relaxing than to fleeing for their lives, and after a brief consideration, Ruki had decided that they could spare an hour or so of tarrying before they had to set out again. After all, she reasoned, Yamaki wouldn't be keeping an eye on his soldiers every minute of every day; it would probably be a while before he realized that his mercenaries had betrayed him. What he would do then probably wouldn't be good, but it wasn't in Ruki's nature to sit around biting her nails over things that might or might not happen. 

As things stood, the situation was actually a pleasant one. They had enjoyed a quick breakfast of bread and fruit from their communal stores, Antieramon supplementing his portion with greenery harvested from the riverbank. That was a bit of a relief; if he couldn't satisfy himself with what he could forage, feeding something as large has he was would have been a difficult chore. As it was, all they had to do was to persuade Guilmon that they really did need to make their supplies last for at least as long as it took them to get to the next town. 

Now everyone was entertaining themselves in whatever ways suited them best, scattered in small groups around the camp site. Hirokazu and Jenrya had decided they liked each other, and were currently engaged in a round of friendly sparring. After much convincing, Renamon had finally agreed to retrieve Hirokazu's pack and weapons from the inn, and now the two young men were showing off their respective swordsmanship talents. Takato had watched just as long as it took to reassure himself that the fighting was going to _stay_ friendly, but he need not have worried; Hirokazu was a good soldier, with a high level of respect for royal blood. 

Now Takato was entertaining a few of the Digimon by doing tricks with a dagger, balancing it on his thumbnail, flipping it like a coin, catching it hilt-down to balance in the palm of his hand. He tossed an apple left over from breakfast into the air, then threw the dagger after it to spike it cleanly. Then he divided it into pieces, passing it around to his audience, much to their approval. 

Off to one side, Guardromon, Antieramon, and Renamon were engaged in quiet conversation, getting to know each other better. They seemed to be getting along quite well. Guardromon respected Antieramon's steadfast loyalty to the prince; both of them admired Renamon for her wisdom and power. It was good to see them getting along; having the three most powerful Digimon in the group fighting with each other would have been a considerable problem. 

At the very edge of their little campground, Ruki and Kenta were sitting quietly, talking magic. Ruki was no Healer and never would be, but her University training had at least given her a sound knowledge of the theory - indeed, better than Kenta himself had. Now she was busy instructing him, and was surprised to find she was enjoying it. Kenta was a good student: he listened with the utmost respect to whatever she told him, absorbing it all like a sponge soaking up water. He never tried to show off or argue with her (unlike many of her former classmates) and asked intelligent questions. Of course, he hadn't quite gotten the hang of putting it all into practice yet, but one couldn't have everything. 

A swift move of Jenrya's sword disarmed Hirokazu, sending his own sword flying. It flipped over Takato's head, making him yelp and duck, before embedding itself in the soft earth beside the stream. Takato's dagger was not so lucky; it flew out of his hand and splashed into the water, partially burying itself in mud. Ruki looked up from her teaching in annoyance. 

"Don't you musclebound clods go putting holes in each other," she warned. "I don't want you running to Kenta every time you get some little scratch or scrape." 

"Why not?" asked Hirokazu. He'd already taken advantage of the Healer's considerable skills once that morning, having him magic away the last remaining traces of his hangover from the previous night. "He doesn't mind. He likes it." 

"I really do, you know," said Kenta. "I like being useful." 

"That doesn't matter," Ruki replied. "You can't just go throwing magic around like it's water. It's not something you can afford to waste, and it's not a toy." 

"I know that," Kenta said, "but what's wrong with healing someone if they're hurt?" 

"For one thing, it wastes energy. I don't want you spending all your power on little things just to have us meet an emergency later that you'll need all your strength for. For another thing, people build up resistance to Healing magic if you use it on them too often. Lastly, I want to be sure you know how to ward yourself before you start using your magic for anything." 

"I'm trying to ward. I really am," he said. "It just keeps getting away from me." 

Ruki sighed a little. "I know you are. You're in a strange situation. Most Healers don't have to worry about warding, but you're a lot more powerful than your average Healer. We've already seen you spend out more than you should for healing little things, and there are limits to how much magic a human body can take. You wouldn't want to accidentally fry somebody you were trying to heal, would you?" 

His face, already pale to begin with, turned almost white. "That could happen?" 

Ruki nodded solemnly. "I saw it, once. Some hotshot kid at my school trying to show off how powerful he was. He cut one of the lab animal's paws off and tried to fuse it back on again." 

"What happened?" asked Hirokazu. 

"The animal exploded," said Ruki, grimacing. "The student was expelled." 

"That's awful," Kenta said, looking a bit sick. 

"I don't _believe_ it!" said Hirokazu. "All this time, I've been letting this guy do magic on me, and he could have _killed_ me?" 

"It was a possibility," Ruki replied with a shrug. 

Takato shook his head. "I'm starting to think it would be safer to walk into a melee naked than to study magic." 

"It's not that bad," said Jenrya. "Don't let her scare you; most people manage just fine. Magic takes self-control, that's all. It's only when you start cutting corners and taking chances that you get into trouble." 

"That's why Ruki is safe," said Renamon wryly. "She is very serious about her work." 

Ruki raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying I don't know how to have fun?" 

"Not with magic," Renamon replied. She vanished, reappearing on a tree branch ten feet above where she had been. "Only those of us for whom magic is as natural as breathing can afford to play with it." 

"And who is this 'we' you're talking about?" Ruki asked. 

"Us," answered Renamon. "The Digimon. We are magical by nature; separate us from magic, and we are only animals." 

"Hm," said Ruki. She had never really thought about them in that light before, but in a way, it made sense. It was the only way she could imagine for creatures like Marine Angemon to exist. She filed the information away for future reference, to be considered when she didn't have more vital things to think about. 

"I don't mean to complain or anything," said Kenta, "but all this work is giving me a headache. Can we maybe do more of this later?" 

"I guess," answered Ruki. She got stiffly to her feet; sitting in the meditation position for long periods of time put her legs to sleep. "We probably have been lying around long enough. Time to hit the road, gang." 

"I was afraid you'd say that," said Takato, as he tried vainly to get the mud off his blade. 

"All right!" Hirokazu cheered. "Finally, we get to do something!" 

"Yeah, run away some more," said Jenrya realistically. "Where are we going, anyway? Do we even know?" 

"No idea," Ruki admitted. "I told Takato I was on my way to New City, but that was just to convince him to go away..." 

"Hey!" said Takato indignantly. 

"...but I really don't have a fixed destination anymore," Ruki continued, as if she hadn't heard him. "I'm open to suggestions, though." 

"Good, because I have one," Jenrya replied. "Why don't we go to my hometown, in Mainboard City?" 

"Any special reason why we should?" she asked. 

"A few. For one thing, I have a little influence there, in case you've forgotten. We can get help and protection there." 

"For another thing," Hirokazu chimed in, "Yamaki's got his home in New City. I don't really think you want to go there." 

"Good point," said Ruki with a grimace. "Okay, then, Mainboard it is... and let's hope we can get there in one piece." 

"We will," said Takato. "What else can happen?" 

Ruki sighed. "I wish you hadn't said that." 

~*~

Ruki walked slowly near the end of the procession. Jenrya was in the lead today, guiding them through the forest in the direction of his home city, leaving her to ponder her situation without the extra burdens of leadership. She was perfectly pleased to let the situation stay that way for as long as possible. She'd never wanted to be the leader of anything, whereas Jenrya had been born to it. Now she was free to do some serious thinking. 

In her hands, she carried the box the Arks had come in. She studied them thoughtfully. Most of the slots were empty now; the loss of the "Healer" and the "Friend" Arks had put a noticeable gap in the collection. Now only three were left: the pink one labeled "princess", a purple one labeled "guardian," and an orange one labeled "priest." She wondered what would happen when she found the people who carried them. Presumably, they too would find their partner Digimon, and would then join their little roving band. Then what? Was she just expected to spend the rest of her life walking around with a strange assortment of humans and Digimon? She thought she was bearing up fairly well under the circumstances, but she wasn't prepared to put up with this kind of thing indefinitely. 

Maybe it would help if she just got rid of the box? She had the sneaky feeling she was being used as a carrier for the thing, to help these strange, semi-aware objects find the owners they were drawn to. Maybe she could avoid the problem if she just chucked the whole thing in a ditch somewhere... but deep down, she knew she couldn't do that. She was too much of a sorceress to just throw away powerful and potentially dangerous magical objects, no matter how much inconvenience it might cause her to keep them. Like it or not, she was stuck obeying this geas, whatever it might bring her to. 

Then there was another thing nagging her: the mysterious empty slot, the one marked with the sign of tricks and deceptions. Why was it empty? Had someone gotten to it before she had? Or was it, as she had considered before, simply a red herring to make her go looking for something that didn't exist? If so, why go through the trouble of luring her onto a false trail? Wouldn't that be counterproductive to helping her find the other devices' owners? Or was someone trying to stop her? If so, why? None of the questions had immediately available answers, and pondering them only made her feel frustrated. Getting frustrated made her want to blow something to bits, which, she had to remind herself firmly, would be a bad idea for someone who was supposed to be keeping a low profile. 

"The last thing I need," she muttered, "is to pick up another one of these weirdos." 

Just as she spoke, there was a rushing noise. Something very large and dark flashed over their heads, moving so fast as to be visible only as a vague shadow. For a moment, it blotted out the sun, and then vanished just as quickly. 

"I think," said Renamon quietly, "it's already too late for that." 

Ruki sighed. "Great. More fun." 

"Your friend there is very perceptive," said a voice above their heads. 

Everyone looked up. Perched proudly in the branches of a tall tree was a young man of indefinite age. He was dressed in long robes and carried the staff of a priest, but if hadn't been for that, Ruki would have sworn he was a young warrior - perhaps even a nobleman. He was still young and strong, even handsome, with suntanned skin and clear blue eyes that were a far cry from the serious, ancient faces of priests she had known in her time. He grinned at them, showing off even white teeth, but there was something about his expression that inspired the opposite of attraction - more a feeling that she ought to be watching her back. Before anyone could say anything, he leaped down from his perch and bowed politely to all of them. 

"Greetings," he said pleasantly. "Pardon me for startling you, but I couldn't help notice that there was an unusual adventuring party in the forest, and I thought I would come and perhaps offer my services." 

"Who are you?" asked Takato. He sounded as suspicious as Ruki felt. 

The newcomer shrugged. "I go by a few different names." With a knowing smile, he added, "A lot of people just save themselves trouble and call me 'the mysterious priest'." 

"That's what I thought," said Ruki, sounding disgruntled. She glared at the sky in general, then stepped over to him and whispered, "Ryo, can I talk to you offstage for a second?" 

He scowled and whispered back, "We're in the middle of a scene. Can't it wait? I'm supposed to be doing my grand entrance now." 

"_Now_, Ryo." 

Ryo sighed and followed Ruki a short distance away. 

"All right, what do you want to complain about this time?" he asked. 

"This," said Ruki. She hauled out a thick sheaf of papers labeled _Digimon Slayers: By SilvorMoon_. "Look. We're doing the first season of _The Slayers_, okay? Xellos doesn't even show up until _Slayers Next_. You're in the wrong season." 

"I've got news for you," Ryo replied. "The author likes Xellos, so she put me in, anyway. Looks like you're stuck with me. Besides, have you looked at the rest of this chapter?" 

Ruki made a face. "I didn't think it was fair to read ahead." 

"Well, go on, look." 

She flipped through a few pages of the story. Then she sighed. 

"So much for continuity," she muttered. "Oh, all right... but if you try any of that _sore wa himitsu_ stuff, you're going to get a knuckle sandwich." After a moment of consideration, she added, "And don't you _dare_ try to kiss me!" 

"Wouldn't dream of it," he answered, giving her his most angelic smile. She glowered at him and went stomping back to the rest of the cast, who were loitering around drinking coffee. 

"All right," Ruki said, "the self-referential bit is over. Back to work. Where were we?" 

"Mysterious priest," Jenrya prompted. 

"Oh, right," said Ruki. 

Ryo cleared his throat, then continued. "If it makes you more comfortable, you can call me Ryo." 

"All right," Ruki replied. "What made you decide you needed to help us? Just feeling generous this morning, or what?" 

"I'm helpful by nature," Ryo replied. "Also, I have information that only I can tell you - information you might find interesting." 

Ruki's eyes narrowed. "Like what?" 

"How about the location of the missing Ark?" 

There was a momentary pause, as Ruki pondered that question. Finally, she said, "You know where it is?" 

"Naturally," he replied. 

"Well, where is it?" asked Takato. 

"Not so fast," said Ruki. "Listen, Ryo, or whatever your name is, I know your type. You're not the kind who goes around handing out free information. What's the catch here?" 

Ryo spread his hands, making Ruki think of streetside entertainers insisting they had nothing up their sleeves. "What can't I just want to do you a favor?" 

"That's a possibility," she said, "but not a likely one." 

"Then maybe I'm just bored. It's been a long time since I've seen such an interesting group as you all. You might be some entertainment for me." 

"That sounds more likely," Ruki said with a sigh. "I just knew we were going to end up as a traveling circus. All right, then, tell us your information." 

Ryo grinned again. "All right, I will. If you were to alter your course a few degrees to the northeast and travel approximately five miles in that direction, you will find yourself coming to the ruins of one of the Old Cities. At the center of this city stands an ancient temple. My advice to you is to have a look inside it. You will find things of interest there." 

Ruki narrowed her eyes. "You're sure this is the truth?" 

"Every word I've said is true," said Ryo. He made a gesture with his staff and his free hand, one Ruki recognized as being powerfully symbolic among magicians and priests. It was still _possible_ he was lying, but she doubted anyone who wasn't demon-bound would dare violate that sign, and she didn't think anyone who was trafficking in demons would dare call himself a priest. 

"Interesting," said Ruki flatly. "Is that all you wanted to tell us?" 

"I think so." 

"Good. Now, go away." 

The priest laughed. "I'm hurt. I had heard you were disagreeable, but I thought you would have at least some appreciation for someone trying to help you... Looks like I was wrong. Oh, well. Have fun with your adventures. I'll be watching you." 

He turned and seemed to vanish into the trees, long before the shadows of the forest should have hidden him. Ruki scowled. 

"I'm not sure I believed a word of that," said Hirokazu. 

"I'm not sure what to think of it," said Jenrya. "I don't think he was _lying_, exactly, but I'd bet my whole inheritance he wasn't telling the whole truth." 

"So, what do we do about it?" said Takato. "I vote we keep going the way we were. Whatever that guy wants us to walk into, it probably isn't good. Odds are the 'interesting things' he's talking about were a bunch of monsters ready to take us apart." 

"But he said he was talking about where the missing Ark was," Hirokazu said. 

"He _sort of_ said that," said Kenta thoughtfully. "Not exactly, though." 

Jenrya stared upwards, as if he could read a map in the clouds. "Hm. Mainboard is almost due north from here. Veering five miles off course won't hurt us much... if that's where we want to go." 

"Hm," said Ruki, frowning again. "Well... if it comes to that, we do have enough firepower to protect ourselves... and someone who can put us back together if something happens to us... I guess it couldn't hurt to go look," she decided. "After all, I'm a tomb-raider by profession, anyway. I have experience at this kind of thing." 

"Cool," said Hirokazu. "We're going, then?" 

"Looks like it," Takato replied. "But it had better be worth it!" 

Peering down at Takato from a perch in a tall tree, the mysterious priest smiled. 

"Oh, it will be worth it," he said. His grin widened. "To me, anyway." 

~*~

Despite not trusting their strange advisor, the traveling party found the journey to the temple to be fairly easy. A short search revealed a track running through the woods, which still had evidence of once being a handsome thoroughfare, and it was still traversable as long as the people walking on it were careful not to turn their ankles on a stray rock. When they had walked a short distance and were neither jumped at by monsters, nor did they fall down any traps, they all began to relax a bit. 

At the moment, Hirokazu was actually singing. He didn't have a great voice, but it didn't hurt anyone's ears, either, so they let him get on with it. The song he sang was a typical example of a mercenary's choice of music, having pleasantly off-color lyrics and seemingly endless verses, meant for passing the time on long, dull marches and passing lonely nights. Ruki and Takato both knew it, or versions of it; it had been around since time out of mind, passed among soldiers and vagabonds for centuries, and they had been hearing it all their lives. Sometimes they would chime in if they came to a part they liked, and everyone was mildly surprised to hear that Ruki _did_ have a pleasant singing voice. Jenrya, growing up in a noble family, had never been exposed to anything like the song before, and he kept silent and tried to pretend he wasn't interested. Terriermon snickered openly at some of the more bawdy verses, making Guilmon and Culumon ask what was so funny. Kenta, proper till the end, tried his hardest to pretend he wasn't hearing any of it, and blushed until he was pinker than Marine Angemon. 

"Come on, chum!" said Hirokazu. "Lighten up! It isn't like you've never heard it all before. Besides, everybody else likes it. Don't you?" 

"I've heard music in better taste," said Renamon levelly. "Then again, Digimon such as myself hardly understand this human preoccupation with the opposite sex." 

"Aren't there any other Renamons?" Takato wondered. 

"No," she answered. "_Renamon_ is the name for me: it is what I am. You might as well ask if there are other Takatos or Rukis." She paused a moment. "Though that is not true for all Digimon. It is a complicated matter. Some of us are just... singular." 

"Probably because they're magical, and not natural," Jenrya murmured. 

"I'm going to ask more questions about that when I have more time to worry about it," said Ruki. "In the meantime... Hirokazu, don't pick on Kenta. He can't help it. Healers are notoriously unworldly." 

"You mean they don't know how to have any fun," Hirokazu grumped. 

"It's just one of those things," said Ruki with a shrug. "You'd think as much as they're concerned with the workings of the human body, they wouldn't have a problem with the idea of sex, but..." 

Kenta blushed even redder than before. "Can we _please_ talk about something else?" 

"Okay," said Guilmon. "How about we talk about them? They look interesting." 

Everyone looked up; they had gotten so interested in the conversation that they had ceased to watch the road ahead. Now they could see that coming up the road behind them were a pair of young humans. One appeared to be female, the other male, and that was as many differences as there seemed to be. Both had round faces, slightly untidy brown hair, and wide brown eyes, and both were dressed in identical costumes, the loose-fitting and sensible garb that marked them as travelers, possibly warriors. They seemed young, certainly younger than the rest of the band, and didn't appear to be heavily armed, or armed at all - the closest thing Ruki saw was a staff the male was using for a walking stick - but that didn't mean anything. Ruki decided to be on guard. 

"Hey, you two!" she called. "Where are you off to?" 

The twosome paused. Until Ruki had bespoken them, they appeared to have been involved in a whispered conversation of their own, and had been caught unawares. Now they stared at the traveling party with identical suspicious looks. 

"Where are _you_ going?" the girl demanded. 

Jenrya crossed his arms and fixed them with a warning look. After all, he knew he deserved to be treated with good manners. 

"We asked you first," he said. "Courtesy dictates that you answer first." 

The boy nudged the girl with his elbow. "Don't tell them anything." 

"We're just traveling," said the girl. "We don't have anything to do with you." 

"We won't know that until you tell us where you're going," Ruki pointed out. "It's not like there's a whole lot at the end of this road. We might be going the same way." 

"I don't think so," said the girl. "The only thing at the end of the road is-" 

"Psst!" the boy hissed at her. 

She shut her mouth, aware that she had almost revealed her purpose. The pair held another whispered discussion, making frequent and suspicious glances at the traveling party. At last, the girl, who appeared to be the speaker for the pair, stepped forward. 

"You've got Digimon with you," she accused. "Nobody who travels with Digimon can be any good." 

At that disparaging remark, Guardromon took a few steps forward, apparently intent on settling this slur against his partner's honor, but a few of the others stepped in front of him before he could get moving. He looked disgruntled, but even he didn't care to argue with Antieramon. 

"You've got us wrong," said Ruki. "We're not - well, _some_ of us aren't outlaws, anyway. Look, about the Digimon, they're not what you think. These are - are _tame_ Digimon. Well, not that either, really, because they're not like animals..." She fumbled for an explanation. How exactly _did_ you explain what these creatures were, anyway? "They're our friends." 

The pair looked skeptical. 

"Humans don't make friends with Digimon," said the boy at length. 

"_We_ do," said Takato stubbornly. "We owe our lives to these Digimon, and them to us. We'd be dead by now without them. I know it sounds weird, but not all Digimon are bad. In fact, most of the ones I've met have been pretty nice, once you get to know them... except maybe Terriermon," he added, shooting a teasing look at the little Digimon, who made a face at him. Guilmon and Culumon giggled. 

The strangers stared, their faces showing disbelief, and Ruki found herself feeling equally surprised. It was one thing to just tell people that these Digimon were intelligent friend, and not just tamed animals or monsters. It was another thing entirely to _show_ them. You couldn't tease and banter with a captive animal. Had Takato been thinking about that when he'd made that comment, or had he just been playing as usual? It was hard to tell. 

"What kind of people are you to be taming Digimon?" asked the girl. 

"I'm glad you asked," said Ruki. "I happen to be Ruki Makino, legendary Cardmage. This is the displaced Crown Prince Jenrya. Also, Takato Matsuda and Hirokazu Shiota, two mercenary soldiers of considerable talent, and Kenta Kitagawa, possibly the most powerful Healer on the continent. The Digimon are called Renamon, Terriermon, Guilmon, Guardromon, Marine Angemon, Antieramon, and Culumon. Happy now?" 

"Are you sure you should have told them all that?" Jenrya whispered to her. 

"Why not?" she asked. "It's obvious they don't believe me; now they'll think we're anyone but who we are." 

It was true; both of the young wanderers were frowning as if not quite sure they weren't dealing with lunatics. 

"Oh," said the girl. "Well, my name's Ai. This is my brother Makoto. He's the youngest." 

"I am not! I'm the same age as you!" 

"You are not! I'm a whole ten minutes older!" 

"So what? Ten minutes is nothing - I'm still the same age as you!" 

"Yeah, only younger! _And_ you're a boy - I'm still more mature than you!" 

"You are not!" 

"I am so!" 

The adventurers stared at each other as their new acquaintances worked themselves into a furious shouting match. Ruki rolled her eyes. So much for these two being dangerous! If these two were genuine warriors, then she was a Seadramon! More likely they were just a couple of village children out on a lark, pretending to be treasure-hunters or something. If they had been carrying on like this anywhere something really dangerous was lurking, they would have both been food for the nearest monster before they had known what had come upon them. 

"Okay, you two, break it up!" she ordered. She grabbed the girl by the shoulders, and Takato seized the boy, separating them. "I've been in enough fights this week without watching you two scream at each other, too." 

"She - he - started it!" shouted both children in unison. 

Ruki looked at them both seriously. She guessed they were about five years her junior, making them not much more than eleven or twelve - an _immature_ eleven or twelve, she thought. Probably they'd spent their whole lives having people tell them how cute they were, being twins. Probably they were both spoiled from the cradle. Ruki sighed. If there was one thing that annoyed her, it was spoiled small children. She neatly ignored the fact that she had grown up in a privileged household and had usually gotten everything she wanted herself - and indeed, still did. 

"Look," she said. "I don't care if _you_ started it or _you_ started it or Culumon over there started it, I want you both to cut it out!" 

The children looked sulky, but nodded. 

"That's better," she said. "Now. Tell me where you're going, and be honest about it. I have ways of knowing if you're lying, and if you're running away from home or something stupid like that..." 

"We're not running away," said the boy, still sounding sulky. "We're going to look for treasure!" 

Ai glared at him. "Now you've done it! You went and _told_ them!" 

"Well, she's a sorceress! She would have known if I lied!" 

"She's no sorceress! She's just some redheaded girl pretending!" 

"But, Ai, the Digimon...!" 

"All right, that does it!" Ruki snapped. "You both are going to shut up, right _now_!" 

As she spoke, she flourished a card, and there was a warping in the air as of rising heat. A stand of nearby trees suddenly went up in a flare of white-heat. In the time it took to blink, there was nothing left of them but a heap of chalky ashes with a few blackened stumps poking through them. Ai and Makoto stared. 

"Now, you were saying?" said Ruki casually. 

The youngsters were still too stunned to speak. Ruki was used to the reaction: they were both thinking how easily _they_ could have ended up as ashes. 

"Um, maybe you shouldn't have done that?" said Kenta hesitantly. "I mean, someone out there might have noticed that... You know, like what you told me about magic-tracing..." 

Ruki flushed. "Oops. Sorry. Lost my temper." 

"What's the problem?" asked Hirokazu. "We're out in the middle of nowhere. Who could have seen us?" 

"I think what he's saying is that someone could have noticed that flare through magical means," said Jenrya thoughtfully. "Most mages can - can - well it's not really _feeling_, but they can _detect_ when another mage is doing magic, and tell one person's power from another. A really powerful one can detect a spell miles away. And the mage who's currently the best at that kind of thing is..." 

"Never mind; you don't need to tell me!" Hirokazu said. "Man! What'd you do a stupid thing like that for, Ruki?" 

"I told you, I lost my temper," she said, sounding very sulky. "I didn't _mean_ to do a spell - it just got away from me. I'm not used to having to worry about people tracking me." 

"Anyway, we don't have the leisure to stand around and worry about it," said Jenrya. "Maybe we were spotted and maybe we weren't. If we were, we had better get out of here before something nasty shows up to bother us." 

"You'd better get out of here, too," said Takato to the twins. "If... the people who are after us show up, we don't want you involved." 

The twins considered this a moment, looking unconvinced. 

"Where are you going?" asked Ai at last. 

"Well," said Takato, "we _were_ going to Mainboard City, but then there was this strange priest, and he told us there was temple near here that we should look in, so-" 

"I knew it!" said Makoto triumphantly. "You're out to steal our treasure!" 

"Your treasure? What treasure?" asked Ruki. 

"The thing we found," said Ai. "A little mechanical thing. We found it and hid it, and we were going back to the temple to get it. You can't have it! We found it first, and it's ours!" 

"You found a little mechanical thing?" Ruki repeated sharply. "Listen, kids - that thing you found - it might be dangerous, for all you know. You ought to let us see it and make sure." 

"You're not stealing it from us!" said Makoto stubbornly. "We - we'll fight you for it, even if you _are_ a sorceress!" 

Takato laughed, a little nervously. "I wouldn't talk like that, if I were you. I've seen what she can do when she gets mad, and it makes that little fireball she threw look like nothing." 

"How are you going to fight her?" asked Hirokazu. "You don't even have weapons!" 

"Oh, yeah?" asked the boy. 

He hefted his staff, gripping it in a way that said he meant business, shifting his feet to a defensive position. Next to him, his sister slid into place to guard his back, and slipped a fan from where it hung on her belt. Ruki had taken it to be simply an ornament, but now she saw that the lovely fan was actually ribbed with metal, razor-sharp. It looked like it would be effective as both a shield and a weapon. Well, label her surprised and ship her to Server - the sprats knew how to fight, after all! 

"Okay, kids, let's not get carried away here..." she said, trying to sound soothing. It wasn't something she was very good at, and the twins didn't seem to be buying it. 

"You might be a sorceress," said Ai, "but this steel is spell-treated to resist magic! We'll see how well you fight without your spells!" 

Ruki grimaced. She had been hoping that if they persisted in wanting to fight, she could use a spell to put them to sleep or temporarily stun them, but that wasn't likely if the girl could reflect anything she or her friends threw at them. If they tried it, it was possible the spell would bounce back at them and put them in even worse shape than they were now. That would mean a direct physical confrontation, which she didn't like any better - it would take too long, and she didn't want to hurt these kids, no matter how annoying they were... 

"You have an unfair advantage!" Guardromon protested. "There are two of you, and only one of Ruki! One of you must step down from the fight!" 

"Well, she's older than us, _and_ a sorceress," said Ai stubbornly. "She can do it on her own. We don't want any of you helping her!" 

"This is getting ridiculous," said Ruki. "Look, kids, I am _not_..." 

"Excuse me," Renamon interrupted smoothly, "but it occurs to me that if this is to be a battle for the mechanical object, then only the object's owner should compete for it. Which of you two found it first?" 

"I did!" said Makoto. 

"You did not! I did!" answered his sister, right on cue. 

"I was the one who picked it up!" 

"Well, I _saw_ it first!" 

"I was the one who found the hiding place!" 

"I put it there!" 

Ruki watched, bemused, as the twosome forgot all about fighting her and began quarreling with each other instead. 

"Come on, let's get out of here," she said. 

The group hurried up the path with all the speed they could manage. Even the sounds of their footfalls could not drown out the sounds of two shouting youngsters until they'd put a good distance behind them. 

"That was pretty fast thinking," said Ruki to Renamon. 

"Merely an application of my observations," Renamon answered modestly. "Besides noting their siblings' tendency to bicker, I've yet to meet a human who wasn't motivated to some degree or other by desire for material things. If they both desire the same object and are forced to choose one owner for it, of course they will argue." 

"I don't think greed is what's driving them," said Ruki, "but whatever your reasoning, it worked... so thanks." 

"Any time." 

Moving swiftly up the path, they eventually began to see signs that the temple they'd been hearing about really existed. The path was now lined with columns and arches, some broken like fallen trees, but just as many still upstanding. Antieramon had to duck from time to time as they walked beneath the arches - obviously they had been made with humans and not Digimon in mind. Ruki was intrigued to note that the closer they came to the temple, the more complete the structures seemed to be, as if there was some force protecting the place from the ravages of time. Ruki didn't consider herself a deeply religious character - she was sorceress enough to know not to get on the bad sides of supernatural entities, but she didn't care to have more to do with them than was necessary. Nevertheless, this place was remarkably well-preserved, so _something_ must have been protecting it... Looking around, she saw signs of repair - places where stones had fallen and been pinned back in place with bits of metal or mud-mortar. Spirits didn't do _that_! A lone acolyte still defending his faith, then? Or something more? 

"Watch yourselves," she said. "We may not be alone." 

She pointed out the signs she had noticed, and the other young warriors agreed that she was probably right. There was a slight reshuffling of the group, as the most dangerous fighters slipped to the outside of the ring, while those less able to defend themselves (Kenta and Culumon in particular) moved towards the center of the group. All of them looked nervously around for whoever or whatever might be lurking around... but nothing appeared. 

"Maybe it's not here anymore?" Takato suggested, looking around at the harmless scenery. All he could see right now was the path, with its decorative border of arches and columns, and the trees beyond. With the sun beaming down on the white stone, it looked rather pretty and not particularly threatening. 

Guilmon sniffed at the air. "Somebody's here. I smell a Digimon!" 

"What kind?" asked Jenrya. 

Guilmon sniffed again. "Can't tell." 

"Well, that's a big help," said Hirokazu. "How many are there? Just one?" 

Guilmon nodded agreeably. 

"Well, that's all right, then," Hirokazu replied. "All of us together ought to be able to handle one Digimon." 

"Provided it's not a really _powerful_ Digimon," said Ruki. "Supposing we meet a fully-grown one, like Marine Angemon only nastier? We might be in trouble then." 

"Aw, we can handle it," said Hirokazu. "We're like a small army!" 

Ruki snorted, but didn't offer any opinions. She would prefer that he was right, but... 

They came to the end of the path and stopped. They were looking down a staircase leading into a steep-sided valley, and in the center of the valley was the temple. The structure was worth stopping to stare at; such places always had a certain presence about them, a lingering spiritual energy built up by years of devout worship. Even now that it was empty - nearly empty, Ruki reminded herself - the place still had a certain nobility about it. 

However, they didn't have long to admire it. While they were still taking in the sight of the temple - and the staircase they would have to descend to reach it - they heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Instantly, Hirokazu, who had been acting as rear guard, sprang into defense position... but it was only Ai and Makoto. 

"You tricked us!" the girl accused. 

"Yeah, so?" Ruki replied. "You weren't going to let it drop any other way, and I _really_ didn't feel like hanging around to fight you." 

"Well, we're not letting you into our temple," said Makoto stubbornly. "It's our treasure and you can't steal it!" 

"We're not going to steal it," said Jenrya placatingly. "We just want to _look_ at it, all right?" 

The pair considered. 

"Are you sure?" asked Ai. 

"Positive," Ruki replied. It almost didn't qualify as a lie; she really _did_ want a look at this mysterious device. Of course, if it turned out to be what she was looking for, then maybe the bargain would be reconsidered... 

"Okay, then," said the girl sulkily. "But we've got to come with you. There's traps in the temple. You'll need us to show you the way." 

Ruki privately thought that she had been raiding ancient cities and abandoned temples for long enough that she could spot any trap a couple of contentious children could, but she didn't say that out loud. 

"Anything to keep you two off our case," she said. "Lead the way." 

Still not entirely happy, the twins began hiking down the long staircase. It was not a particularly easy journey; the old steps were crumbling, and each step had to be taken carefully to avoid dislodging a loose brick and taking a tumble. Guardromon took one look at the situation and abandoned it as hopeless, choosing instead to fire off a pair of booster-rockets and fly down the slope. Antieramon chose to skid down the grassy slope rather than try to edge down sideways on a staircase that hadn't been designed for large rabbit feet. The rest of the group scrambled down the stairs with varying degrees of grace, finally landing safely at the bottom. 

The view from the bottom of the steps was not an improvement on the one from the top. It was past noon, now, and the light at the bottom of the crater-valley was diminishing rapidly. Furthermore, what could be imagined from a distance to be a complete building could now be seen as it was: a cracking and dilapidated structure, becoming slowly overgrown by climbing vines, though there were signs that someone had been doing their best to keep the weeds under control. The door of the temple had fallen away, its hinges rusted to dust long ago, leaving behind nothing more than brown stains against the white stone. It was eerily silent; even the wind had trouble reaching into this deep hollow. 

"Are we sure we want to go in there?" asked Kenta nervously. "Maybe some of us should wait outside, just in case we need a - a rescue or something." 

"We aren't going to need a rescue," said Jenrya. "You're traveling with magicians - you _are_ a magician. If there's anything dangerous in there, we'd know about it." 

"_We'd_ know about it," said Makoto. "We've been in there lots of times, and there's nothing-" 

"Izzat so?" 

Everyone jumped. A voice had rung out, seemingly from nowhere, echoing off of stone walls and bouncing back from all directions. The group drew closer together instinctively, looking for the speaker. 

"Yeah, that's right, be afraid," said the voice. It was rough and rasping, not the voice of something pleasant. "You guys are trespassin' on _my_ property. If ya knew what was good for ya, you'd make tracks in the other direction before I get ticked." 

"Who are you?" Ruki shouted. "Show yourself!" 

No one showed. Everyone looked around, peering into the shadows and the cracks between stones and fallen walls, until... 

"Look there!" said Renamon. 

They looked. Against the side of the valley wall was a large, dark shadow. It was distorted and vague, but they could make out the shape of a vaguely humanoid thing with horns and claws and a long tail. 

"What the hay is that?" Takato exclaimed. 

"I don't know," said Ai in a small voice. "I never saw _that_ here before!" 

"I'm the guardian of this temple!" the voice said. "Nobody gets in here without my permission, and I _don't_ give permission. If ya have any sense, you'll all get outta here before I get mad!" 

Ruki frowned, trying to make out the nature of the thing that addressed her. Wherever it was, it was well-hidden, at least to the human eye. She switched her attention to her magic-sense, trying to find the being's magical aura, and was dismayed to find herself balked. There was a wash of magical and spiritual energy all over this temple, and her limited sighting abilities couldn't penetrate it. Of course, if that was the case, it meant that Yamaki probably couldn't see through it, either, which was nice to know, but didn't solve the problem at hand. 

"There's a Digimon up there," Guilmon said, breaking into her thoughts. He sneezed. "Doesn't smell good." 

"A Digimon," she repeated. "Well, at least it's not a demon..." 

"Who you callin' a demon? Who'dyou think I am, Chaos Dragon Garv?" the voice shouted. 

"Ha, ha, really cute," she muttered. "Listen, guardian - we're coming in whether you like it or not!" She beckoned to the others. "Come on." 

Takato looked nervous. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" 

"Of course. If that thing were going to hurt us, it would have done it by now." 

She began walking forward. As she suspected, nothing attacked her. Of course the creature had been bluffing! 

Then she stepped through the door of the temple, and a large chunk of the ceiling fell in. Only Renamon's lightning fast reflexes saved her from being crushed. Her only knowledge of the event was a rumbling noise, an impact at her side, and then she was lying on the hard earth looking at a pile of rubble. 

"You were saying?" said Renamon. 

Ruki grimaced. 

"I move," said Jenrya, "that we back up and try this again." 

Ruki stared at the fallen stones. She was definitely letting herself get overconfident! 

"I think you're right," she said. 

~*~

Yamaki was bored. After years of scouring old tomes, translating ancient documents, searching abandoned and half-forgotten temples, he had finally learned the key to curing his ailment. Now any other work was superfluous; he could do nothing until he had the Culumon creature in his hands. It left him with a decided gap in his schedule. 

Briefly, it crossed his mind that he ought to find Reika and ask her to help him pass the time. He knew she would, no matter how he decided he wanted to spend the time. She was worried about him working so hard, and would be happy to see that he was finally taking some time off. His mind knew it, and the part of him that loved her and wanted her to be happy was telling him it was the right idea, but something else balked him. Her worrying had begun to vex him lately - not because he minded her trying to care for him, but because he had started to sense something else underlying that worry. Though she didn't say it in so many words, he had the impression that she didn't _want_ him to complete his mission, that in fact, she wanted for everything to stay just as it was. _That_ bothered him. How dare she stand between him and the thing he wanted most? It made him angry, and with the anger came a sense of unease. He _needed_ this spell completed, and the idea that he might eventually have to fight her to make it happen unsettled him. 

*_And if it doesn't work, after all this?_* 

He sighed; that thought had been preying on his mind, too. He couldn't imagine any route to healing that was more extreme than this one. The formula for the spell he'd written out was incredibly complicated, as potent a piece of magic as anyone had ever done. If it went wrong, there was a chance it might kill him. Not a great chance, he thought - he had done spells like it before and survived with nothing worse than a few days' tiredness - but the chance was still there. Even if it didn't kill him, simple failure was a prospect almost as bad. 

*_If this doesn't work, I will admit defeat,_* he told himself. *_That would be proof enough that whatever is wrong with me has no cure. If it doesn't work, I'll just give it all up. All of it. There is no more point in being a sorcerer if my life's work amounts to nothing..._* 

He shook his head, dispelling those thoughts. Now he was beginning even to depress himself. 

*_Let me just say I want this all over with, and leave it at that._* 

Back to the problem at hand: he couldn't finish without the Digimon. Where were his bounty hunters? They should have had plenty of time to catch up to the sorceress and her companions by now! Surely they would have something to report by this point, even if it was only that they had tried and failed... unless they had been killed, which was a distinct possibility. After hearing what that Ruki had done to his Digimon warriors, he didn't doubt she could obliterate a simple swordsman quickly enough if she was pressed. Perhaps he ought to check up on them all. 

One thing that could be said for perpetual blindness: it made magic-sight almost ridiculously easy. With only a flicker of thought, he sent his consciousness out beyond his mundane study and into the world, homing in on the last known location of his two bounty hunters. From there, it would be easy enough to track them. He had noticed from the moment they had met that the young Healer the swordsman traveled with was phenomenally powerful but badly warded, his magical aura standing out so vividly around him that his own personal life- energies nearly disappeared from sight; from a distance, he would glow like a lighthouse. Without warding, he was liable to leave a trail of residual energy that would last for days. It was that trail Yamaki homed in on. 

For the first few miles, things went about the way Yamaki had expected they would: the twosome (one could assume the Healer wouldn't go far from his partner) had traveled swiftly overland and eventually caught up with Ruki's traveling party. There were signs that magics of one sort and another had been used - fragments of battle spells, dispelled illusions, and Healings - that would indicate a battle. Apparently it was indecisive, because the trail then doubled back to a cluster of life-energies that meant a town. Then, oddly enough, the Healer went back to the site of the original battle, then left again. Then there were traces of some weird magic unlike anything Yamaki had ever seen before, and it concerned him. By now, he'd thought he knew just about everything there was to know about magic, and seeing anything new disturbed him. After that point, the Healer had returned to the battleground for the third time and stayed there. Then the trail became much dimmer; Yamaki surmised that either his enemies had wounded him so grievously that he had used up most of his power staying alive, he had changed sides, or he had finally started warding himself. Or any combination of the three. 

Beyond that point, the trail of the Healer became more difficult to follow, but that hardly mattered, because he was now traveling with Ruki and that traitor Jenrya, and the combined forces of three such powerful magic-users was easy enough to follow, wards or no. The trail moved along, about the distance a slow-moving party could travel in a day. At one point, their path crossed that of another mage, a strong one, one whose magic bore a strange resemblance to the unknown force the Healer had encountered, and Yamaki made a mental note to research this when he had the time. 

Then, only a few miles later, the trail abruptly faded into a fog. For whatever reason, they seemed to have wandered into a place of old power, where magic was sunk into the very earth, and he couldn't see through it. 

*_Do they think they can hide in there?_* he wondered. *_Or do they have some other motive for wanting to visit a ruined temple? They won't find anything in there; that old place was cleaned out years ago; anything of value is long gone. Hm..._* 

He debated with himself. It would be more than a small bother to punch through that fog to route them out, especially at this distance, but he was loath to just leave them there. They could be plotting any kind of mischief in there. Even if they weren't, he didn't feel like waiting around for them to come out. 

*_Then I'll just send something in to deal with them._* 

Contrary to popular belief, mind-control spells were among the most utterly impractical things there were. Keeping any independent-minded being under control for any length of time was next to impossible - well, if it weren't, he would just spell Ruki into _giving_ Culumon to him and be done with it. On the other hand, planting a suggestion in the mind of a less intelligent creature, particularly a suggestion that was similar to the way it already thought, was fairly simple. That was the kind of magic he liked: simple and next to impossible to notice or trace. With that in mind, he searched the local countryside, looking for something that would suit his purposes. 

He was in luck: a gang of Digimon was nearby, looking for mischief. All it would take was a gentle nudge, and then Ruki and her comrades would find their sanctuary had become anything but. 

~*~

It had taken a good deal of debate before the adventurers decide to dare the temple again. Ai and Makoto naturally didn't want a part of anything that would let these strange strangers get near their treasure, but they also didn't want an unknown and unfriendly creature keeping them from doing the same. They were willing to be marginally cooperative if their new acquaintances would get rid of whatever was keeping them away from their cherished object. Jenrya was more than half convinced that this was all just an elaborate trick by the mysterious priest and wanted nothing more to do with it. Ruki, on the other hand, had been born perverse, and the near- accident made her that much more determined to get in there and see whatever this mysterious creature was trying to keep her away from. Eventually, her stubbornness won out, and they hatched a plan. 

A few minutes later, a slightly diminished band could be seen walking slowly back down the slope and making their way to the temple door. They crept, making sure of each step before they moved, presumably testing to see whether the temple's guardian was going to try to thwart them again. Actually, they were just buying time. 

Meanwhile, a much smaller group was settling at the bottom of the slope as well, but _behind_ the temple. Ruki had levitated herself and Ai to the bottom of the steep wall, while Kenta, Marine Angemon, Renamon, and Anteiramon provided their own transport. Kenta had admitted having some small abilities with light-casting, so while Ruki kept her mind on defending the party, should they run into trouble, he arranged to cloak them all in a magical don't-look-at- me fog. Ai had been brought along primarily for her magic-deflecting shield; Ruki had a notion it would be useful if they were attacked. Renamon came as a scout, having already proven her senses and reflexes were greater than anyone else's. Antieramon's purpose was to clear away the rubble of the cave-in when they reached the door, and to hold off any others they might encounter. Guardromon might have possibly outranked him in the raw strength department, but he couldn't have moved as silently as Antieramon did. Marine Angemon wasn't strictly necessary to the expedition, but he had refused to let his partner go without him. 

The general outline of the plan was that the group approaching openly would get the guardian's attention and keep it for as long as it took for Ruki's party to reach the doorway. Then they would clear the passage and keep it clear for as long as it took the others to get inside. Once they were in there, of course, they'd have to watch their backs, but Ruki thought she knew every trick there was for protecting a ruined temple, and had confidence in her ability to guide her companions to safety. 

However, her plans didn't work out the way anyone expected them to. The diversion group reached the bottom of the stairs with no problems and inched their way toward the temple, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. They reached the point where they had been standing when the guardian had first addressed them, and still nothing happened. They walked all the way up to the entrance, and there was still no response at all. 

"Hey, Ruki," said Takato, "I think he gave up." 

Ruki walked out into view, looking disgruntled. 

"He didn't give up," she said, scowling at the shadows. "He's planning something. Either that, or he thought he got rid of us the first time and wandered off." 

"In that case, let's get in there and do whatever it is we're going to do before he comes back," Hirokazu suggested. "All this sneaking around isn't my style." 

"Mine either," Ruki agreed. "But obviously it's somebody's. Antieramon, Guardromon, a hand, please?" 

The two Digimon ploughed into the rubble at the temple's entrance, stirring up clouds of dust and ancient mold and making Marine Angemon sneeze. Within seconds, the way was clear, and the group stepped inside. 

It was pitch-black beyond the temple door. Jenrya held up one hand, making silver-white light flare around it to illuminate their passage. The tunnel was in surprisingly good shape - the walls were cracked, and everything was dusty, but they could still see elaborate carvings and mosaics adorning every surface. It was very pretty... and also, Ruki thought, a good way to disguise hidden triggers and traps. Just to be on the safe side, she sent Ai and Makoto up ahead. They had said they knew their way around; let them put their money where their mouths were! 

As it turned out, they _did_ know their way around. They led the way confidently, navigating around a trick floor tile that would trigger a trapdoor that would dump a load of rocks down on their heads, pointed out the place where a trip-wire had once been before it had rusted away, and tugging on a small statue in a niche that turned out to be the handle of a secret door. Ruki reluctantly raised her estimation of these two; they _could_ behave like rational beings when they weren't busy fighting each other. 

"See that trapdoor up there?" Makoto was saying, pointing up at an ominous-looking opening in the ceiling. Used to be, you stepped on that tile there, and it would open it up and all these snakes would drop down on you. We pushed the button by accident once, and a bunch of skeletons fell out. You should have heard Ai scream!" 

"I did not scream!" she said. "Anyway, you're the one who fell down the shaft." 

"I did that on purpose!" 

"Not the first time!" 

"Did too!" 

"Did not!" 

"Did too!" 

"_Shut up!_" Ruki snapped. 

The twins quieted and looked mutinous. She glared back at them. 

"Don't you ever stop fighting?" she muttered. 

"She - he - started it!" 

She rolled her eyes, but declined to comment. 

"Hey, all three of you be quiet," said Terriermon. "You're making too much noise, and I'm trying to hear something!" 

Everyone froze to look at Terriermon. He had both his ears standing in the air, swivelling independently of each other in a way that reminded Ruki of the technomagical items called "satellite dishes." Finally, both ears seemed to come to a consensus, pointing back in the direction they had come. 

"Something's following us," he said. 

"I told you that thing was still out there," said Ruki, grimly smug. 

"Nah, it's not him," said Terriermon. "It's a whole bunch of things - big things." 

"Smells like Digimon," Guilmon commented. 

"Oh, great," Hirokazu muttered. "Just what we need - to get chased around this maze by a bunch of angry Digimon." 

"Maybe they aren't angry?" Takato suggested. "I mean, so far all the Digimon we've met have been nice..." 

There was a crash in the distance, as of something large being smashed to smithereens. 

"Somehow," said Renamon, "I doubt that will be the case." 

"Exit's blocked off," said Jenrya, looking around. "No room to fight in these narrow corridors. We're going to have to make a run for it - try to lose them. Ai, Makoto, what's the quickest way out of here?" 

The twosome consulted in brief whispers. 

"This way," said Makoto, beckoning them up a side passage. The others hurried to follow them. 

They were almost not fast enough. Whatever was coming after them weren't the kind of creatures to worry about things like walls; they just picked a direction they liked and barged ahead without worrying, leaving trails of wreckage in their wake. Hearing a particularly loud crash, Ruki looked over her shoulder and saw a mob of Fuugamon, fire-spitting cousins of the Ogremon that had ravaged her town. These things would show no more mercy to her and her friends than the Ogremon had showed her father. For a moment, it didn't matter that she was a great sorceress, or that she was traveling with a band of seasoned warriors and powerful Digimon - she was still afraid. 

"They're gaining on us!" she shouted. 

"We're almost there!" Ai shouted back. 

They came to a door at the end of a long hallway, and the twins began trying to shove it open. It appeared the settling stone had caused the doorway to tilt slightly, holding the door in place. Impatient, Hirokazu shoved them both out of the way and threw his shoulder against the door. His soldier's muscles could do what a pair of children couldn't: the door popped open, and there was a scramble to get through it. Antieramon had to bend himself almost double to squeeze though the opening, while the people behind him fidgeted and listened to the monsters approaching. 

Then disaster struck - or rather, _stuck_. The door wasn't wide enough for Guardromon, and when he tried to fit through anyway, he found himself wedged in place. 

"Come on, come on, _move!_" Ruki urged. She was stuck on the wrong side of the door, and not liking it one bit. 

"I'm trying!" Guardromon said. 

At the far end of the hall, the Fuugamon were standing and watching the spectacle. Apparently they hadn't been expecting to find anyone here, and were not quite sure how to react. Most creatures in the Ogremon family were slow thinkers, and it would take them a little while to finish processing the ramifications of the situation. When they were done, though, Ruki doubted she would like whatever ideas they came up with. 

"Can't you do something?" Makoto whined. "You're a sorceress! Blast them like you did the trees!" 

"If I blast them, I'll bring the ceiling crashing down on our heads. Would you like that, huh?" 

"I won't like getting eaten by a Digimon, either!" Ai protested. 

There was a crunching noise. Guardromon had managed to brace himself and was now pulling with all his considerable strength, forcing the doorway to crack and crumble. Chips of stone fell away as he pulled himself through. The Fuugamon were still rumbling threateningly. Suddenly, they came to a decision and came roaring forward, flailing their clubs and smashing everything before them as they rushed forward. 

"Oh, no!" Ai wailed, watching them as they bashed their fists against the walls. "Don't hit the-" 

Several things happened at once. One of the Fuugamon slammed his club against a brick in the wall, and the brick gave, sinking in with a grinding noise. There was a massive mechanical whirr, and the section of floor the three humans were standing on abruptly gave. Ai and Mako gave identical shrieks as they dropped out of sight. Ruki, anticipating trouble, was able to levitate herself out of the way, and just barely missed cracking her head on the ceiling. There was an earsplitting metallic clang as Guardromon finally ripped himself free from the doorway, clattering on to the floor, landing with a crash and a few soldierly oaths. That, plus the mess the Fuugamon were making and the shaking of the trapdoor proved to be too much for the dilapidated old building, and a large chunk of the hall abruptly caved in. 

Finally, the dust cleared, and Ruki floated back to the floor to have a look at the situation. The trapdoor had swung shut again; there was no sign of Ai and Mako. Wherever they had gone, they were on their own. The Fuugamon's crashing and bashing appeared to have destroyed the mechanism that opened it, and she doubted they could ever make it work again. As for the Fuugamon themselves, they had been caught by the rockfall, and some had surely been buried in it. A human would have been crushed by such an impact, but they were tough creatures, mostly bone and muscle and leather skin. She doubted that even those who had been buried were seriously hurt, and she could hear several still moving around behind the heap of debris. They would dig their way out, and they were likely to be furious once they were free. Ruki went to rejoin her friends. They were all in reasonably good shape, save for Guardromon, who had several deep scratches down his sides from where the doorway had pinched him. Marine Angemon blew a stream of glowing bubbles, and the rents healed as if they had never been. Everyone looked to Ruki for their next instructions. 

"We're getting out of here," she said. 

"What?" said Takato. "But what about the kids?" 

"They're just going to have to get by on their own," she said. She dropped her gaze. "I don't want to sound like I don't care what happens to them, but there's nothing we can do for them right now. They said they know their way around; they can probably find their way out of wherever they are right now. We're just going to have to hope that's what they do. In the meantime, _we're_ trapped in a trap-filled temple with a bunch of crazy things that will likely want to kill us if they can catch it. We need to concentrate on getting ourselves out safely." 

"She's right," said Jenrya. "There's nothing we can do for them right now. We'll just have to press on." 

Somewhat dispirited, they continued with their exploration. Ruki traveled at the front of the party, checking for traps and other dangers. The further they progressed, the more she began to think the other dangers were more to be avoided than the traps. Whoever had rigged up this temple, they had apparently not been a killing order. Most of what she encountered was only marginally dangerous, if that - the traps seemed to have been laid more to frighten and discourage than to do real damage. On the other hand, this place was none too structurally sound, and there were places where the ceiling or floor had caved in. They edged their way along as carefully as they could, wincing whenever anyone made a misstep or sneezed from the dust. 

Despite all that, they made reasonably good progress. They charted a course inward and downward, on the assumption that anything precious would be kept at the very heart of this maze. Nevertheless, the loss of their guides made them uneasy, and they couldn't help but think of where in this dark, dismal place they might be... 

~*~

Slowly, Ai opened her eyes. It didn't make much difference - there was nothing to see but impenetrable darkness. Nevertheless, she thought she might still be alive, and she sat up to make sure. 

"Mako?" she called. "Are you okay? Are you still here? You had better not tell me you're dead." 

"I think I'm still a little alive," her brother answered weakly. There was a rustling sound as he sat up. 

"Where are we?" Ai asked. 

There was a pause as Makoto tried to remember. "We fell down the trapdoor. We're down on the bottom floor now. In a pit." 

"A big pit?" 

"Yes." 

"Too big to climb out of?" 

"Yes." 

"Then we're trapped down here?" 

"Yes." 

"Will you stop saying that?" Ai shouted. "It's not doing any good. We've got to think of a way out of here. Maybe if I stood on your shoulders..." 

"No way! You're too weak to pull me up!" 

"I am not! I'm just as strong as you!" 

"No you're not! Let me climb on your shoulders, and I'll pull _you_ up!" 

"No, you won't! You'll walk off and leave me!" 

"I will not!" 

"Yes you will! You never want me around, you're always saying how you'd be better off without me, you'll leave me down here in the dark..." Ai's voice choked up. "I'm going to be trapped down here forever!" 

"We aren't going to be trapped," said Makoto. "Those people will come and find us." 

"No, they won't. They don't know their way around like we do. They'll just get lost," said Ai. "Anyway, they don't like us. They only let us come with us to see the treasure." 

"They'd like us more if _you_ weren't always making trouble," said Ai. 

"Me make trouble? You're the one who's always picking on me!" 

"Only because _you_ pick on _me_!" 

"I do not!" 

"Yes you do!" 

"Do too!" 

"Oh, this is hopeless!" said Ai. "They don't like either of us, and they aren't coming, and we're stuck no matter whose fault it is!" 

"That's the first smart thing I've heard you guys say since you got here," said a raspy voice. 

Both children looked up to see who had spoken, and were surprised to find that they _could_ see. A reddish fire was burning somewhere, casting a faint light. They could see a familiar shape silhouetted against the fire. 

"You're the temple guardian!"Ai exclaimed. 

"Well, ain't you something?" the creature said. "Yeah, I'm the guardian. What's it to you?" 

The creature took a few steps, shifting enough that the light could shine on him rather than behind him. Now they could see him for what he was: a Digimon, mostly purple with a white face. He did indeed have hornlike protrusions on his head, a pointy tail in back, and even claws on his feet. His eyes had a catlike green glitter to them, suggesting excellent night vision. Most interesting of all was a detail his shadow hadn't been able to reveal: he stood less than a yard high. 

"You're what we were scared of?" asked Makoto. "But you're just a little guy!" 

The Digimon gave him a sour look. "Thank you for tellin' me that. I never woulda noticed. Anythin' else you wanna point out?" 

"Sorry," said Ai, looking contrite. 

"Yeah, yeah, you say you're sorry. Well, I know ya ain't, so don't try to put anythin' over on me," the Digimon snapped. "You don't care about my feelin's. Nobody does. And I don't care, either!" 

He began to stalk off, muttering under his breath. 

"Hey, wait!" Ai called. "Come back here!" 

"Why?" the Digimon shouted back. "Whatsamatter, ain't finished insultin' me yet?" 

"No..." 

"Well, whatever it is, I don't wanna hear it!" 

They heard his footsteps stomping away, and then there was silence. 

"Well, you really blew it that time," said Ai. 

"Me?" Makoto exclaimed. "What did I do?" 

"You insulted him! He might have helped us if you hadn't made him mad!" 

"He wouldn't have helped us no matter what I said!" 

"You don't know that!" 

"Do too!" 

"Do not!" 

"Do too!" 

"_Would you two just shut up?_" 

They jumped guiltily. The little Digimon was back, glaring down at them. 

"Sheesh!" he said. "You two have gotta be the biggest idiots I've ever seen, y'know that?" 

"It's not our fault we're stuck in this pit," said Makoto. 

"That ain't what I'm talkin' about. I mean the way you keep yellin' at each other all the time. It's ridiculous!" he said. "If you two would work together, you'd be halfway outta the temple by now. Why do ya _do_ that?" 

They stared at the floor. 

"I don't know," said Ai. "I guess it's just always been this way." 

"Stupid," said the little Digimon. "Really, really stupid. You two have always got someone to keep you company and watch your back for ya, and whaddaya do? You fight with each other. Stupid!" 

"Maybe I don't want someone following me around all the time," said Ai. 

"Me either," said Makoto. "It's a _pain_ being twins! Everybody acts like that's all there is to us - that we're alike." 

Ai nodded. "They think we should always want to do everything together...." 

"Everyone thinks we have to like the same stuff...." 

"We have to dress alike all the time...." 

"We never get anything of our own - we have to share everything...." 

"We don't even get to pick our friends. Anyone _he_ likes, _I_ have to hang out with, too!" 

Makoto hung his head. "Sometimes I'd give _anything_ just to be alone for a while!" 

Ai nodded. "Me, too." 

The little Digimon shook himself; he seemed to have gotten dizzy just trying to keep up with their conversation. 

"That's what you think," he said. "Bein' alone ain't that hot, either." 

"If you don't like being alone, then why are you down here?" asked Ai. 

"'Cause there ain't nobody out there who wants me, that's why," the Digimon snapped. "And I don't care, either! One of these days, I'll show 'em all..." 

"They might like you more if you were nicer," Ai scolded. 

He glared at her. "Huh. That's what _you_ think, toots. Those Digimon from back home - if you weren't tough as a boulder and just as stupid, then forget it! Huh, just 'cause I was little and smart instead of strong and dumb, they chased me out! And humans? You can forget about 'em! They'd just as soon kick ya as talk to ya, if you're a Digimon." 

"We're talking to you," Makoto pointed out. 

"Oh, yeah? Well-" He stopped in mid-rant. "Oh, yeah, I guess ya are... but you're only doin' it because you think I'm gonna help you out! Well, you can forget it. I don't help nobody and nobody helps me. I can take care of myself, _by_ myself." 

"What's wrong with you?" asked Ai. "Don't you want people to like you?" 

"No, I don't! ...Well, maybe a little... but that's not the point!" 

"If you want people to like you," said Ai, "why are you hiding down here and chasing away anyone who gets near?" 

"Because..." he began. He stopped. "Hm. Maybe ya got a point. I hadn't looked at it like that before... Guess we're all a little stupid, huh? But I'm still not as stupid as you two," he added. "If I had somebody to watch my back, I'd use 'em, insteada fightin' with 'em all the time just to prove we're different." 

The twins looked at each other. 

"Is that what we're doing?" Makoto asked. 

"It might be," said Ai. "We're sitting at the bottom of a pit we could have gotten out of if we hadn't been so busy fighting about it... I guess that is pretty stupid." 

"Toldja so," said the Digimon. "Maybe you two ain't hopeless, after all." 

"Neither are you," said Ai. "You shouldn't be hiding down here. Why don't you come with us? We could be your friends." 

"Nuh-uh! How stupid do I look? You'd dump me just as soon as you found your way out of here." 

"No we wouldn't!" said both twins in unison. 

He stared at them. They looked up at him with identical hopeful expressions. 

"There must be somethin' wrong with my ears," he said. "I coulda sworn you two just agreed on something." 

"We did," said Ai. "We promise, if you help us get out of here, we'll let you come with us. We won't leave you behind." 

Makoto nodded. "We promise!" 

The Digimon shook his head. "I've gotta be crazy, even thinkin' about listenin' to you clowns... but at least if you change your minds I won't be any worse off than I am now... What's your names?" 

"Ai and Makoto." 

"I'm Impmon. Can't say I'm pleased to meet you, but... aw, whatever. Here, kid - Makoto or whatever you call yourself. Gimme that stick thing of yours and let's see if we can get ya outta there." 

It took a bit of climbing and scrambling to finally get out of the pit, but by their combined efforts, they managed in the end. While the twins sat on the floor and caught their breath, their new Digimon friend looked them over critically. 

"Not the most impressive humans I've ever seen," he said. "Guess you'll have to do, though. Guess it ain't every Digimon who can tame a human. That's something to write home about... if there was anyone to write to. You two plannin' on gettin' outta here sometime soon, or you wanna sit there on the floor another coupla years?" 

"We're coming!" said the twins, jumping eagerly to their feet. 

Impmon studied them. Obviously their intention to get on his good side was overriding their natural impulse to squabble with each other. Well, they'd see how long _that_ lasted. Impmon picked up a torch from a bracket on the wall, pulled a ball of fire out of nowhere to light it, and began walking to the exit with his obedient new humans trailing behind him. 

~*~

The staircase led down. That was all that could be discerned from a visual examination. It was a spiral staircase, unlit, and impossible to see down for more than a few feet. Ruki thought the magical emanation was stronger down there than it was where they were standing, but it was difficult to tell. 

"Don't hold me to it," she said, "but I think this might be the way." 

"Don't worry, we won't," Terriermon drawled. 

She glared at him. It wasn't _her_ fault the last few passages they had tried were dead ends. She might be talented in her field, but she wasn't omniscient! 

"I'd like to see you do better," she said. "If you want to lead this expedition, go right ahead. Show us your infallible knowledge, since mine seems to have failed." 

"Moumantai! Boy, you get touchy when you goof up," he said. 

"I haven't goofed up," said Ruki. "I was engaging in a trial-and-error exploration. There's a difference." 

"Leave her alone," said Jenrya to his partner. "She's doing the best she can. If you want to be useful, you can go have a look down that staircase and see if it's safe, before we all try to go down it." 

"Who, me? You've gotta be kidding!" said Terriermon. "I may be crazy, but I'm not _stupid_!" 

"I'm not going down there unless there's a good reason for it," said Guardromon, eying the narrow stairway with distrust. He still hadn't forgiven the doorway for refusing to let him through, and he didn't care for the idea of getting wedged in a dark staircase. 

"Quiet down," said Kenta, showing a surprising streak of authority. "Marine Angemon will look. I doubt there's anything down there that can hurt him. You don't mind, do you?" 

His partner chattered agreeably and flitted down the stairway. They could hear him squeaking to himself as he flew, until finally the echoes died out. Then they returned, and he shot out of the passage like a pink firework, hovering around his partner's head and accepting a few words of praise for a job well done. 

"Well?" asked Hirokazu, impatient. "Don't keep us hanging! What does he say?" 

"He says there's a big room down there," Kenta translated. "A pretty one, he says, with pictures and statues." 

"Sounds like the kind of place we'd be wanting," said Ruki thoughtfully. "All right, let's check it out." 

They went down the staircase, not without a certain amount of difficulty. Getting any number of people down a tightly spiraling staircase without bumping into each other was a chore, especially when some of them were large people; Antieramon had to bend himself almost double to fit, and even then his ears dragged along the ceiling. By the time they reached the bottom, it seemed that even his seemingly endless patience was fraying. 

Thankfully, once they reached the bottom, there proved to be room enough for all of them, and then some. The space they stepped into wasn't just large, but cavernous, high enough that by their limited light, they couldn't even see the ceiling. What they could see, though, was more than enough to be impressive. Truly this must have been a glorious place back in its early days, and it was still more than grand enough to deserve some reverence. 

The floors were done in mosaic tiles, depicting massive, four-legged serpents winding across it in intricate patterns, intertwining with fish and water lilies. The walls were likewise done up in more mosaic and relief-sculpture. In fact, every available surface seemed to be decorated with images of the twisting blue dragons, ranging from tiny ones no longer than a man's finger to a single massive one that covered the entirety of the far wall, with his tail at the ceiling and the rest of his body looping back and forth across the surface until his head nearly rested on the floor. Ruki thought she could see where there had once been jewels fitted into his eye sockets, but even without them, the beast's face looked intelligent and serene, strangely lifelike, as if it were sizing up these strange visitors in its domain. 

Reflecting its face was an underground spring, its waters gathered in an elaborately decorated basin with more dragons and water lilies around its edge. More fountains stood at intervals along the wall, but the mechanisms that pumped them seemed to have worn out years ago, leaving them dry and dusty. 

"What do you think?" Ruki asked Jenrya, who stood closest to her. 

He examined the dragon carvings. "Probably dates back to... oh, I would say just a few years before the seal was opened. Obviously this is a temple of the sect who worshiped the element of Water in the form of the Serpentine Dragon. They were an order who believed in deep meditation, mathematics and other thinking arts, and in general believed in the pursuit of the ultimate Truth through study and reflection." 

"Interesting," said Ruki. She hadn't heard any of that before, but then again, her studies had been in magic, not history, and she'd only touched on as much theology as she needed in her line of work. "How do you know all that?" 

"Because I had a royal education," he answered. "Actually, there are more than a few people who think the Mage Shibumi was a member of their order. My father was - is - he _is_ interested in a lot of their works. They may or may not have learned the ultimate Truth, but they did pick up a few things worth knowing." 

"I see," she answered. "Well, that's interesting, but it's not what I wanted to know. What I _meant_ was, do you think what we're looking for is down here, and if it is, where do you think it's hidden?" 

"Oh." He colored a little. "Sorry. You have no idea how accustomed I got to spouting off things like that, living with my dad." 

A large paw patted his shoulder encouragingly. "You will have much to tell your father when we rescue him," said Antieramon. 

Jenrya gave him a grateful smile. "I know. He'll be impressed, won't he?" 

"So," said Hirokazu, looking around the room. "People used to meditate in here, back when all these fountains were running? I sure couldn't have gotten any thinking done with all that water splashing around. Hope they had a privy stashed close by here." 

A few people snorted, and Ruki rolled her eyes. 

"I'll tell you what," she said. "Why don't you stop making jokes and meditate on where something might be hidden in all this mess?" 

"I agree with her," said Renamon. "The Fuugamon haven't forgotten us. It would be best to complete our mission quickly, and then search for an exit." 

"Would that work?" asked Takato. "I mean, we haven't got our guides anymore. The way out has caved in. We wouldn't be able to find our way out without a lot of running around in the dark, with a mob of angry monsters chasing after us. At least here, we have some space to move around, and Ruki can work her magic without having to worry about blowing stuff up. We've even got a bit of cover, with the statues and fountains and all." 

"He's right," said Hirokazu, turning businesslike. "This is the most defensible position we're going to find around here... and Fuugamon are flame-types. They might not like this temple water. It could give us an edge." 

Ruki was quiet a moment. Then she shrugged. 

"Okay, so maybe there are good reasons to travel with soldiers," she said. 

"We shall stand our ground!" said Guardromon grandly. "Let our enemies come, and we shall slay them or perish valiantly in the attempt!" 

"Let's not, please," said Jenrya. "But I'm with Ruki on one thing - while we're down here, let's do some searching." 

They split up and searched. The smaller Digimon, like Culumon and Marine Angemon, peered among the cracks in the walls and the openings in fountains. Antieramon peered high up on the walls, while Terriermon flew right up to the ceiling, coming down with his ears coated in cobwebs. Guilmon snuffled around on the floor, trying to catch a recent scent that might lead to the last place a human had been. The rest of the group poked in whatever corners they could find, rapping at the walls for secret panels and testing tiles for hidden switches. Their search turned up fruitless. 

Having not turned up anything with her physical senses, Ruki propped herself in a corner and closed her eyes, intending to use more unnatural abilities. All mages could sense magic to some extent, but it was not something human bodies were perfectly adapted to, so instead of having some kind of magical "sixth sense," they magically adapted a sense they already had. Some people detected magic by feel, sensing it as various textures or vibrations. There were others who could hear it as different pitches or tones. There were even some few who could smell it, with white magic smelling of floral perfumes and dark magic as a stench of death. Ruki herself had even known one boy at her school who could taste it, and refused to sit anywhere near her in class because her ambient magic left him with the taste of hot peppers in his mouth for hours afterwards. He had eventually married a young woman with no particular looks or talent, but whose particular magic made anything she cooked taste of chocolate. The last time Ruki had seen him, he was looking quite happy and very well-fed. 

But to Ruki, magic was something to be seen, shining as lights of various colors, intensities, and patterns. She searched for these now, and almost immediately found herself staring into a dark world through which a variety of lights were moving. She frowned a little; the very air down here was thick with blue magic, making her feel she was peering through a fog. She tried to pick through it, sorting through her impressions. The Digimon each shone in her mind's eye, dabs of living magic (she was rather pleased to see that Renamon shone the most brightly - she really _was_ a Digimon sorceress). Takato and Hirokazu had only the barest smudges, only the magic of life that every living creature had. Jenrya had more, glowing softly with his silvery-white light. Kenta's powers were impressive even through the fog, gleaming around him in a pale-pink nimbus - not dazzling, but _deep_, as if he stood in front of a tunnel of light that went on for miles. This was the first time she had seriously taken stock of his abilities, and just now, she felt very glad that he was a Healer and not something more destructive, or her job would be in jeopardy. 

However, other than these moving bits of brightness, there wasn't a lot to see. She could see the faintest gleams from the Cards Jenrya, Takato, and herself were carrying, another glow from the dragon-idol and its reflecting pool, and that was all. 

Or was it? 

"Guys," she said, letting her eyes snap open. "We need to be watching that wall over there." 

"Why?" asked Takato. 

"Because there's something behind it, genius," she snapped. "Something alive. Or more than one something." 

"What kind of something?" asked Jenrya urgently, his hand going to his sword. 

"I don't know," she answered. Saying, "Something purple," wouldn't have been helpful or accurate, but it was the only impression she could get with her eyes closed. 

Tensely, the group gathered around the wall in question, watching and listening. First to the Digimon, and then to the rest of the group, there came a sound, as of echoing voices, too muffled to be made out clearly. Then there was a grinding of gears, and everyone readied a weapon or an attack as a section of the wall began to swing inwards... 

Ai, Makoto, and a small Digimon stepped out. 

"See?" it was saying. "I toldja I'd get ya outta here. Am I good or am I good?" 

Ai laughed. "You're great, Impmon." 

Everyone stared at them a moment, taken aback. The twins grinned. 

"Hi!" said Makoto. "How did you get down here?" 

"We walked," said Ruki succinctly. "Would you mind answering the same question?" 

"Impmon led us," Ai said proudly. "He was the guardian of the temple, but now he's our friend." 

"Humph! Am not." 

The twins giggled, clearly delighted with their new companion. Ruki thought maybe this was justice: they had found a Digimon more disagreeable than they were! Then she backed her train of thought up. They had found a Digimon? The guardian? She felt a sinking sensation. 

"Oh, great," she muttered. 

However, she didn't have any time to worry about it. A distant rumbling announced that someone upstairs had found the staircase, and was about to pay them a visit. 

"Here come the Fuugamon!" Guilmon shouted. 

"No time to talk, kids," said Ruki to the twins. "Battle stations, everyone! It's showtime." 

The group scattered, either heading for defensible positions or hiding places or standing their ground, according to their nature. The twins took one look at the monsters and ducked back into the tunnel again, hoping they wouldn't be seen in the dim light. Impmon looked affronted for half a second, saw what the others were up against, and decided to follow the twins. 

On the battlefield, light exploded: Jenrya had tossed his lighting-spell into the air, making it hover thirty feet off the ground and glow like a spotlight. In its white radiance, humans and Digimon battled with spells and blades. Antieramon had produced his double-bladed axe and was hacking at two monsters at once, while the other Digimon tossed fireballs and whirlwinds into the fray. Hirokazu and Takato attacked with their swords, but their blades didn't have much impact on the Fuugamon's leathery hides. Ruki and Jenrya had more success with their spells, but they feared to use anything really damaging and risking hurting one of the others by accident. Kenta distinguished himself by immobilizing a few in ice, but he had never been meant for battle, and they kept forcing him to back off. He was starting to run out of places to hide. 

"Look at those big ugly lugs," Impmon was muttering as he watched the fight. "Stupid grunts messing up _my_ temple. Bad enough getting chased off by critters like that - now they're messin' up _my_ hiding place..." 

"Why don't you fight them?" asked Makoto. "You're a Digimon. Digimon are supposed to fight." 

"Huh! Shows what you know," he said. "I'm too small to fight. They'd walk all over me, just like all the others. Now, if I could _evolve_, then I'd be somebody to worry about! I'd bash 'em all into the ground!" 

"Well, we can fight," said Ai. "We promised to protect you, and we will. Right, Mako?" 

"Right," he said. 

"But-" said Impmon. 

He didn't get any further than that. Both children had already dashed out the door. 

"Oh, what the heck," he muttered, and rushed out after them. 

Instantly, the twins struck their defensive positions, back to back. Ai unfurled her fan and twirled it expertly, making the Fuugamon shy away from its gleaming edge. One of them attempted to blast the twosome with a flaming hurricane; she deflected it and sent it bouncing back on its caster. Another Fuugamon tried to bash her with its club; Makoto parried it with his staff and smacked the monster a smarting blow over the head. They backed away, circling and growling, unable to figure out these two matched people who fought as one. 

"Night of Fire!" Impmon shouted, tossing a reddish fireball. It landed on the foot of a nearby Fuugamon, making it jump up and down, grunting and hooting in pain. A swift flick of Makoto's staff swept its other foot out from under it, making it fall on the floor with a loud thud. 

Unfortunately, the fall did nothing more than make the monster angry. As soon as it could get its feet back underneath it, it began attacking again, swinging its club ruthlessly. It was all the twins could do to keep from being battered to pieces. 

"They're not doing so well," said Jenrya, sparing a glance in their direction. 

Ruki tossed a fireball that sent the Fuugamon she was fighting staggering backwards - blistered, but not seriously hurt. "_We're_ not doing so well. I _really_ wish we were out in the open. Guess I've got no choice..." 

"No choice? No choice but to do what?" Jenrya asked. 

She fished for something in her pocket. "This." 

She wound up and threw, and something purple and shiny sailed across the room. It clattered to the ground a few yards from where the twins were standing.f 

"Grab it!" Ruki shouted. She didn't know what they might do with it, but... 

"Right!" Ai agreed. "Impmon, can you clear the way?" 

"I'm all over it!" he answered. "_Summon!_" 

A whirlwind started on the floor in front of him, gradually growing in size until a globe of light floated out of it. With a gesture, Impmon sent the globe sailing gracefully into the face of the nearest Fuugamon, making it howl in agony and stumble backwards. In that second, the twins made a dash forward, diving for the device. They landed side by side next to it. Ai glanced at her brother. 

"Together?" she said. 

He nodded. "Mm-hm." 

They reached out as one, their hands touching it at the exact same time. 

Instantly, light shot from the device, brilliant purple light that arced across the room and struck Impmon like a thunderbolt. He cried out... but it didn't sound like pain. It sounded like exultation, and they stared in amazement as his limbs lengthened, his claws extended, wings burst from his back... 

"Haha, yeah!" he cheered. "Now this is more like it! Now let's see what these guys make of me!" 

Faced with a masked, black-winged terror, armed with a massive gun, most of the people in the room had the good sense to duck for cover. The Fuugamon, though, were a bit slower in reacting, and the next thing they knew, the newly-evolved Digimon had aimed his gun at the nearest monsters and reduced them to digital dust. 

"Who's next?" he asked. "Whatsamatter? You aren't afraid of Beelzemon, are ya?" 

The Fuugamon evidently were. Already they were beginning to try to fade into the shadows. 

"I like this guy," said Ruki, nodding in approval. "He has style." 

"How did he do that?" asked Takato, staring in awe. "Our Arks never made that happen." 

"You got me," Ruki answered with a shrug. "Maybe it's because there are two humans channeling their energy through it, instead of just one... or maybe he just really wanted to evolve." 

There was another blast of light, and three more Fuugamon went up in smoke. The others were scrambling away as fast as they could, tripping over each other as they hurried for the exit. Beelzemon kept shooting at them until they were well out of sight. Then, with a sigh of sudden tiredness, he dropped back to his natural form and lay panting on the ground. Instantly, Ai and Makoto were kneeling on either side of him. 

"Are you okay?" asked Makoto worriedly. 

"Sure," he said. "Just... a little tired... Whew! That evolving stuff takes it out of a 'mon." 

"You were great," said Ai, hugging him. 

He blushed furiously. "Cut that out! Stupid!" 

"Just what I was afraid of," said Ruki, coming to join them. 

"What?" asked Makoto. "Hey, what was that thing you threw? The thing that made Impmon evolve?" 

"That was what we call an Ark," said Ruki. "It's a technomagical object that works with Digimon and Cards to make them more powerful... obviously, we haven't learned everything about them yet. The long and short of it is, Impmon is now your partner... partner to _both_ of you. That means he's stuck with you from now on." 

The twins looked at each other. Then they shrugged. 

"I guess I don't mind sharing," said Ai. 

"Me neither," Makoto said. "The three of us work pretty well together... Maybe there is something good about being a twin, after all." 

"So you've never seen anything like that Ark before?" asked Jenrya, coming up to join them. 

The twins shook their heads. 

"Then what was the thing you were hiding down here?" he asked. 

Ai grinned. "Watch and see!" 

She walked over to the giant dragon on the wall. She put her hand into its mouth and pressed its tongue, making it tip downwards. There was a rumbling in the floor, and the fountain bubbled. Slowly, a pedestal rose up out of the water. There was a box resting on it. Ai waded through the water and opened it, fishing something large and shiny from its depths. She offered it up for their approval. It was a vaguely cylindrical object about a foot high, pointed on top, and made all out of silvery metal. Its outside was rimmed with what appeared to be small model horses on sticks. When she set it on the ground and pressed a lever, the horses began moving around in a circle on a tiny track, while tinny music issued forth. 

"What on the four staffs of LON is that?" Ruki muttered. 

"I believe it's called a merry-go-round," Jenrya replied. "An ancient form of entertainment, quite primitive. It's probably worth some money by now." 

Makoto nodded vigorously. "It's our treasure! We're going to sell it for money so we can go exploring!" 

Ruki sighed deeply. "Great." 

~*~

"So long Ai! Bye, Makoto! See you around, Impmon!" 

Further up the road, the three travelers turned and waved one last time before disappearing over the crest of a hill. Privately, Ruki wasn't all that sorry to see them go. True, she had offered, if not with a great deal of enthusiasm, to let them come along with her and her friends, but they had politely declined. She couldn't say she blamed them. This wasn't really their fight - their interests were in exploring and treasure hunting. She consoled herself by thinking that Impmon (or Beelzemon) would be able to take care of them. In the meantime, she didn't think her disparate little traveling party needed a couple of argumentative preteens and an equally obnoxious little Digimon traveling with them. 

"Think we'll ever see them again?" asked Takato, as they set off down the road again. 

"Maybe," said Ruki. "Somehow, I doubt we'll get away from them this easily." 

Jenrya laughed. "Come on, admit it, they weren't _that_ bad." 

"No, they weren't," she said. "Actually, they kind of remind me of myself at that age. That's one good reason not to want them around. You guys are in enough trouble with just _one_ of me." 

That made everyone laugh. Even Ruki smiled a bit. 

"Bit of a wasted effort all the same," said Hirokazu. "I mean, we didn't even find anything down there, after all of that!" 

"Didn't you?" 

Everyone looked up. They were not surprised to see a familiar priest lurking in the treetops above them. 

"You again," said Ruki. "Listen, you - didn't you tell us we would find the missing Ark if we followed that road of yours? Why didn't we? You'd better give us some straight answers this time, or-" 

"What a temper," said Ryo mildly. "I didn't promise you'd find the Ark there. I said you'd find something interesting, and you certainly did! It's not _my_ fault you jumped to conclusions." 

"It is when you lead us to think they're true," she countered. 

"Well, you found the carrier of the 'guardian' Ark, an ancient artifact, a mystic temple... oh, and some Fuugamon. I wasn't expecting them, but they were interesting, too. I'd say that still counts as a good day's work." A thought seemed to occur to him, and he grinned. "At least you didn't have to dress up and dance." 

Ruki glared at him murderously. "Very funny. Don't try to get off the subject. You _do_ know where the last Ark is, don't you?" 

"Of course I do!" 

"Well?" she demanded. "Where is it?" 

He grinned again. "_Sore wa himitsu desu!_" 

Ruki growled and started forwards, but he was too quick for her. He leaped, straight up, and vanished into the treetops. They heard him laughing distantly, and then that, too, was gone. Ruki sighed. 

"That guy is going to drive me crazy someday," she said. "Oh, well. We'll catch up to him in the next chapter..." 

"Did I miss something?" asked Takato. 

"Nothing important," Ruki replied. 

Meanwhile, hidden among the tree shadows, Ryo watched the little party leave. It had been an interesting day, and he was looking forward to seeing more interesting performances from them. He smiled as he reached into his pocket and took out a metal-blue device. 

"Cyberdramon, come," he ordered. 

There was a rush of wings, and a great dark dragon dropped out of the sky to land before him. He ran his hand over the beast's helmeted head. 

"Good boy," he said. "Come on. We're going to do some traveling." 

With that, the trickster pocketed his Ark and set out into the fading sky. 


	5. The City and the Princess

**The City and the Princess**

  


**By: SilvorMoon**

There was only one thing Ruki could really appreciate about rising before the sun to continue a journey, and that was having the privilege of watching the sun rise. The part of her that appreciated beauty liked seeing the sky go from gray to gold, finally flaring into a blaze of orange and pink, laced with violet-blue clouds. The air started to warm again, and morning breezes brushed past flowers that opened to the new sunlight. Then, too, there were the voices of other living things coming awake... 

"I'm hungry!" 

Voices like that. Ruki turned and glared at the speaker, and Terriermon gave her a sour look. 

"Well, I am," he said. 

"Me too!" Culumon groaned. 

"Me three," said Guilmon mournfully. 

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" she demanded. "I can't pull food out of thin air, if that's what you're thinking." 

"Huh? But you're a sorceress!" said Hirokazu. "I saw you burn down a chunk of the forest yesterday! Coming up with a little thing like breakfast shouldn't be _that_ hard." 

"If she were a standard-issue magician, maybe," said Jenrya. "Ruki's a Cardmage. Her spells are tied up in the Cards. Don't expect magic to solve everything." 

Ruki gave the prince a grateful look. 

"The Digimon are right, though," said Takato. "There's only so far we can go without food. Why didn't you get more when we were back in town?" 

"Because there's only so much we could carry," she answered, "and because I was only buying food for three humans and five Digimon. Don't complain; I paid for it with my money. I _could_ have gotten just enough for me. And Renamon," she added as an afterthought. 

Kenta had the grace to look guilty, for all that he had eaten very little of their food. Hirokazu and Guardromon looked anywhere but at Ruki; after all, Guardromon was a large Digimon, and it took a lot to keep his engine running. The bounty hunter hadn't exactly slighted himself, either. Even tiny Marine Angemon needed feeding, more than one would expect from such a diminutive beast. Having four unexpected additions to the party had done its part to drain the communal food stores, and they'd had little dinner the night before, and no breakfast. 

"We'll just have to tighten our belts and deal with it," said Jenrya philosophically. "It's not that far to go, anyway. If memory serves me, we should be in Mainboard in time for lunch." 

"Ooh..." Guilmon complained. "I want lunch now!" 

Renamon gave him a withering glance. "You have no stamina. How did you ever survive in the wild?" 

"I didn't walk around so much," Guilmon replied. He dropped to all fours and hung his head. "I'm tired and hungry and thirsty and tired and hungry..." 

Without a word, Antieramon walked off the road and vanished into the forest. Moments later, the others heard a wooden _thud_, accompanied by a soft pattering and a rustle of leaves. When Antieramon reappeared, it was with his large paws filled with an armload of fruits. He kept five for himself and distributed the rest among the group. 

"Food!" Guilmon squealed rapturously. "Thanks, Antieramon! You're the best." 

The rabbit bowed his head in polite acceptance of the compliment. 

Privately, Ruki agreed with Guilmon's assessment - there _was_ a lot of good to be said for the noble Digimon. No one who had been there could forget how he'd put his life on the line to protect Ruki and Jenrya. He had shown himself to be both loyal and honorable, to friends and enemies alike. He'd shown no sign of lusting for battle, the way people claimed most Digimon did, but he was a formidable warrior when given cause. He gave his all for the group and never complained, no matter how difficult matters got. 

*_There should be more Digimon like him,_* thought Ruki as she took a bite of her breakfast. The fruit was a bit overripe, but hungry as she was, it tasted wonderful. *_After those Fuugamon, it's nice to be reminded there are still good Digimon out there, too..._* 

"Say, Jen," she said, "where did you find this guy, anyway?" 

"Hm?" said the prince. "Who, Antieramon? I didn't find him. He was... given. Appointed, I guess is the better word." 

"I was created," said Antieramon. 

A few people jumped; they were so used to the rabbit being silent, it was easy to forget that he could talk when he felt like it. 

Jenrya nodded. "All of the Devas were created. Don't ask me for the details of how. My father might be able to explain it, but..." 

"What's a Deva?" asked Hirokazu blankly. 

"Yamaki's soldiers," Jenrya answered, "or they were, before Ruki removed most of them." 

"Um, yeah," she said. "No offense, I hope?" 

"None taken," said Antieramon graciously. "We never cared for each other." 

"Yamaki magicked them up to search for Culumon," Jenrya said. "It wasn't a bad idea, objectively. They could go anywhere they needed to, steal anything they liked, and most people would be too afraid of them to try to stop them. Of course, it didn't take long for them to start getting ideas of their own, especially that Makuramon." 

"Is he the one who was mouthing off to me when I first showed up?" Ruki interjected. "The little monkey creature?" 

"That was him," said Antieramon. "He was the most ambitious, and appointed himself our leader. It was he who encouraged us to steal the treasures of humans and ransack their villages for his own gain." 

"He attracted a lot of unwelcome attention," said Jenrya. "I was put in charge of keeping them all in some kind of order. Of course, it didn't last very long. I suppose if he'd kept to his own orders, Ruki would never have heard of them all..." 

"And I wouldn't have come and blasted him to bits," Ruki finished. "Well, I guess he got what was coming to him... It's a good thing you didn't get hit, though, Antieramon." 

"And that's the closest she'll ever come to saying she likes you," Terriermon piped up. 

Ruki glared at him, but didn't try to correct him. 

Antieramon was perhaps embarrassed by even such mild praise, because he drifted towards the back of the group. When he was gone, Jenrya said, "I always did think he was the best of the bunch. There's something different about him. When I asked, he said he was the last one to be created. I've never decided if Yamaki got it right on the last try, or whether he was so tired after all that work, he didn't put in his full effort." 

Ruki nodded, only half paying attention. She was thinking that if Makuramon hadn't gotten greedy and caught her attention... if she hadn't been moved by an out-of-character impulse to free Culumon... If Hirokazu's rivalry hadn't driven Takato out of town just in time for him to rescue her... If Hirokazu hadn't just happened to rescue a certain Healer, or to take a job from a certain sorcerer... Looked at from this angle, the events of the last few days, or months, or years, appeared to be a long string of coincidences, making sure that this odd little group had all gotten together alive. It was entirely possible that if everything hadn't happened in just the way they had, at least one of them, and probably more, would be dead by now. Ruki thought she heard the wheels of Fate grinding in the distance, and shook herself. No doubt that if things had fallen out differently, the new pattern would look equally coincidental, but still... 

Lost in contemplation of the cosmic conundrum, she almost missed the first sight of Mainboard City. 

"Hey, Ruki, where are you going?" Takato called. 

She stopped walking. She had been trudging down a hill with her eyes on the ground, not really thinking very hard about where she was heading. Now she stopped and looked up. In the distance, shining at the top of a hill, was a large cluster of white buildings. Now that she could see it, she backed up to the top of the hill, so she could admire the view properly with the rest of her friends. It was worth looking at. This was no town of tumbledown huts and wooden fences, but a thriving city of gleaming white stone. The outside was encased by a sturdy wall, and even from this distance, they could see the spires of the royal palace, banners flying in the breeze. 

"Now, there's a place to live!" said Hirokazu approvingly. 

"I don't like it," said Renamon. "I am a forest creature. It escapes me how humans can want to live stacked on top of each other like that." 

"It escapes _me_ how anyone can be happier living in a forest without having walls to protect them," Guardromon answered. 

Ruki shrugged. "To each their own! I like the open roads, myself, but I can handle hanging out in the city for a while. You Digimon might be better off staying out here for a while, though." 

"You would kind of attract attention," said Takato, tilting his head back to look up at Antieramon. "We're lucky not many people have been using this road." 

"Not all of the Digimon attract attention," said Kenta, clutching Marine Angemon protectively. 

"True," said Jenrya. "And I guess we shouldn't let Culumon out of our sight. There's no telling who might show up while we're gone." 

"All right," Ruki agreed. "Culumon's not that much trouble, and he's easy to hide, and I guess Marine Angemon can come along if he wants." She looked thoughtfully at Renamon. "I guess you could probably stay out of sight, if you wanted to come." 

"Not I," she replied. "Someone needs to stay and keep the others out of trouble. If I sense you are in danger, I will come." 

Ruki nodded her agreement. Privately, she thought she would have felt better if Renamon could come along, but she was willing to admit that Renamon was probably right. Cities weren't the fox-woman's natural habitat, and the others _would_ need watching. 

They trekked into town. As they drew nearer to the gate, Jenrya pulled up his mask and hood, leaving nothing but his eyes showing. 

"What did you do that for?" asked Takato. "This is your home, isn't it? You shouldn't be hiding here." 

"I'm dead, remember?" Jenrya replied. "The last thing I want is to start a panic. There's no telling what kind of attention it might draw." 

"We _are_ kind of trying to keep a low profile," Ruki agreed. "If Yamaki's tracking us, he'd notice a thing like all of Mainboard going into a ruckus because their prince has mysteriously reappeared." 

"Or because some stranger is _claiming_ to be the prince," Jenrya added. 

"Oh," said Takato, looking embarrassed. "Good point." 

They reached the gate. It was really little more than an opening in the wall, just wide enough that a cart could have gotten through it. It was an attractive thing, with decorative carvings running around its arched perimeter, and a glinting protective stone set at its peak. More importantly, it was flanked by a pair of armed guards, who crossed their spears as the group approached. 

"Halt! Identify yourselves," one barked. 

"We're here on legitimate business," Ruki answered. "My name is Sophia Keywright; I'm a jewel merchant. My companions are soldiers, hired to protect my wares. I wish to take a booth at the market." 

The two guards looked at the group suspiciously. 

"That one doesn't have the look of a soldier," said one of them, pointing at Kenta. 

"He's a wizard," answered Ruki. "Not especially powerful, but he casts wards and other protection spells, to discourage people from getting too curious about my wares. He came very reasonably priced; I couldn't resist the bargain." 

"A white mage, then," answered the guard, glancing at Kenta's white cloak and nodding approval. "Well enough." 

The other guard wasn't so easily convinced. "I see no jewels with you, miss. Where are these wares you're so determined to protect?" 

"Do you think I'm fool enough to travel with them openly?" answered Ruki, clearly shocked at his idiocy. "They're well hidden. Just look." 

She opened her cloak and reached into some invisible pocket, drawing out a large leather bag and tipping its contents into her hand. Out spilled a pile of gems in an array of colors - some cut and polished, some rough, some that even shone with magic. Some were as small as a grape seed, some large enough to play marbles with, and a few were larger than that. The guards stared; she was holding more treasure in her hand than they might earn in their lifetimes, and the bag was still more than half-full. Ruki made sure they got a good look before dumping her treasures back into the bag and making it disappear. 

"You are what you say you are," said the guard who had questioned her. "You and your attendants may pass." 

"Thank you," she answered. She beckoned to her friends. "Come along - I want to at least have time to rent a booth today." 

The others hurried after her. Once they were inside, they were eager to congratulate her on her performance. 

"That wasn't a bad act," said Jenrya. "I almost believed you, myself." 

"I've had to do it before," she answered. "If I tell people I'm the most famous Cardmage in decades, they're not always inclined to believe me." 

"I was impressed with your illusion," said Kenta. "If I didn't know better, I would have sworn those jewels were real." 

Ruki stared at him a moment. Then she laughed. 

"You're so naive, it's almost cute," she said. 

"You mean those were real?" Hirokazu exclaimed. "Man, what are you doing out here? You could retire on that! Heck, _all_ of us could retire on that!" 

She shrugged. "I'd get bored." 

"You'd get bored," Hirokazu repeated. "Do you hear her? She says she'd get bored. Man, I would love to be that bored." 

"Don't worry," a voice interjected. "Next season, she'll probably spend it all on magical curiosities, anyway." 

Ruki didn't even have to turn around to know who was talking, but she did anyway, if only to glare at him more effectively. Half-hidden in a shadowed corner was Ryo, leaning casually against a wall and eating an ice cream cone. 

"What are you doing here?" Ruki demanded. 

"Watching you," he answered. "Don't worry, I'm not in this chapter. I just came for the ice cream." 

"Figures," Ruki sighed. "If you're not going to do anything useful, go away. Go kiss a dragon!" 

"I can't possibly look that stupid," he replied. "But if my company is that unwelcome..." He winked, and abruptly disappeared. 

"That was strange," said Jenrya. "Do you think he's spying on us?" 

Ruki shook his head. "No, he's just here to make in-jokes. He did remind me, though - it's lunch time, and we need to restock our supplies. Is there anywhere around here that we can buy food?" 

"The market is further into town," said Jenrya. "There should be restaurants nearby, though. Granted, I've been away for three years, but... the Frothing Gomamon should still be open. It was the best place on this side of town, last time I was here." 

"Sounds like our best bet, then," Ruki replied. "Lead the way." 

Jenrya obeyed, guiding his friends through his city. It was a good thing he was guiding them, or they would have gotten lost. The streets ran at peculiar angles to each other, making it difficult for a non-native to keep their bearings. Ruki also noticed that there seemed to be an inordinate number of walls running around that didn't appear to have anything to do with the local architecture. When she asked the prince, he explained that the walls of the city had been built to form the pattern of a giant protective seal, with the entire city inside it. His forefathers had built magic into the walls, to protect its people from everything from plagues to fires to armies, and each successive generation renewed and strengthened the spells, adding their own mark to the layers of magic. As they passed one of the walls, Ruki set her hand against it and felt the power tingling against her skin. She almost pitied anyone who tried to breach _this_ city's defenses! 

Eventually, they came to a well-kept building distinguished by a swinging sign above its door. The picture showed a Gomamon afloat on its back, a tankard of ale balanced on its chest, its face bearded with the foam as it grinned foolishly. It was a strange phenomenon - no matter how much people feared and distrusted the Digimon, they still showed a propensity to name their restaurants and pubs and hostels after them. Every once in a while one might crop up called the King's Head or the Dancing Cat, but the Crowned Leomon or the Bearmon's Arms were far more likely. It was a puzzle that no one had ever adequately explained, but it seemed to work, for this restaurant, at least, had plenty of patrons. Now it gained five more, as a dusty band of travelers (two with unseen Digimon tucked under their cloaks) found a table in a dark corner and ordered their lunches. 

"I don't know if I like this very much," said Takato, glancing around at the busy restaurant. "It reminds me too much of that other place where we ran into Yamaki." 

"I sincerely doubt Yamaki would show up here," said Jenrya. His expression seemed to harden, even behind his mask. "Not without inside help." 

"Lighten up," said Hirokazu. "Ten to one we gave him the slip miles ago." 

"Where do you get _those_ odds?" Ruki asked irritably. 

"Well, he hasn't bothered us yet, has he?" Hirokazu replied. 

Ruki decided the best way to deal with lapses of logic like that was to ignore them. She sighed and rolled her eyes, but said nothing. 

"Well, he hasn't, you know," Kenta offered, apparently feeling the need to defend his friend. 

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," answered Jenrya thoughtfully. "I do have to wonder why a bunch of fire Digimon would randomly wander into a temple dedicated to water - even a defunct temple. Violent creatures like that normally stay out of temples, don't they?" 

"Usually," Ruki answered. "You think they might have been sent?" 

"I wouldn't be surprised at all," said Jenrya. "We can't afford to let our guard down, or assume that anything that happens to us is coincidental." 

Ruki nodded. She was coming to appreciate the prince's good sense. He was a levelheaded, practical sort, hardly what she would have expected from royalty. In these strange and wild days, a ruler's influence didn't always extend very far beyond the walls of his home city, and even though King Janyuu was the titular ruler of all the land between a range of mountains in the east to the ocean in the west, she imagined that Yamaki was probably as much a ruler in New City as the king was here - perhaps more so. After all, Janyuu was a peace-loving man, more interested in his books and spells than in making conquests; obviously Yamaki had broader interests. It was apparent Jenrya would be a different sort of leader, one with his father's knowledge and level nature, but also with a certain amount of magical power and some martial skills as well. He might be a great king someday - might even get this mixed-up world straightened out a bit. That was, of course, provided he lived that long... 

She was distracted by the arrival of a waitress, who plopped their food down in front of them with no particular grace and flounced off again, looking rather harried. There was a group of rowdy young men up at the bar who were shouting loudly for service of one kind and another. Ruki looked down at the meal she'd been brought, recalled that she'd ordered a salad and not potatoes, looked at the waitress and what she was doing, and decided not to complain. 

"Now, this is more like it! Real food!" said Hirokazu through a mouthful of baked chicken. He was holding a drumstick in one hand and a chunk of buttered bread in the other, occasionally swapping one or the other for a mug of something. Takato and Kenta both eyed it skeptically. 

"Hey, don't worry, man," Hirokazu said, catching the look. "It's lemonade, all right?" 

"Just checking," said Kenta. 

"So, now that we're here, what do we do now?" Ruki inquired. "Does anyone have any plans?" 

"The obvious thing to do would be to have a talk with..." Jenrya hesitated a moment, then went on, "...with my sister. She was in authority here, last I looked. She'll be able to help us if anyone can. The only thing is, we'll have to ask her in such a way that nobody else finds out we're here." 

"Okay, that makes sense," she replied. "So, how do you arrange formal audience with a princess without getting noticed?" 

"That's easy," said Hirokazu with his mouth full. 

Ruki and Jenrya turned to stare at him. 

"What?" he asked. 

"Okay, wise guy," said Ruki. "If you're so smart, tell us how we're supposed to smuggle the prince into his own palace to talk to the princess without anyone noticing." 

"Same way you got through the gate," he said. "Make it look like you're somebody else." 

"Are you sure that will work?" she asked doubtfully. "Won't the castle have guards and spells and things on it? I know I would put down a few, if I had a castle." 

"There are spells," said Jenrya thoughtfully, "but most of them are keyed toward hostile intents... I know there's a truth spell on the front door, but anybody with any legal training can get around that." 

"So we just have to think of something to tell them that's the truth, but not all the truth," said Kenta, offering an olive to Marine Angemon. The little Digimon inspected this strange object, decided it wasn't edible, and instead began balancing it on his nose like a seal. "We ought to be able to manage that." 

"No problem," Takato agreed. "Ruki's good at thinking of stuff, aren't you, Ruki?" 

Ruki sighed. Why was it always her? 

~*~

A short while later, a rather tense group could be seen winding their way through Mainboard's twisting streets. Ruki had always felt she had a reasonably good sense of direction, but she was finding it difficult to figure out exactly where she was going right now, for the roads turned at odd angles and seemed to double back on themselves. Sometimes they seemed to be walking towards the castle from the east, and sometimes from the west. Was this more magic, or was it just a way to try to keep invaders from easily reaching the castle? Either way, it was effective for drawing out nervous tension. 

*_I can get out, if things get crazy,_* she reminded herself. Certainly she'd gotten out of worse situations, completely on her own... but that was the catch, wasn't it? _She_ could get out, but what about the rest of them? Well, Takato and Hirokazu were fighters, they could probably hack their way out of trouble, and Kenta and Jenrya could probably magic a way out, and Culumon would sneak out with somebody... Ruki sighed and shook her head. Takato's offhand remark in the restaurant had lodged in her mind, and its import was clear. These people had decided she was going to be their leader, and they were counting on her to somehow guide them through this mess. They were all her responsibility now, and strange as it was, she didn't think she could bring herself to just walk away from them. 

*_Let's face it, if you were going to walk away, you would have done it days ago. All it would take is a quick don't-see-me spell, and you could have packed up in the night and walked off. Then I wouldn't have any Digimon following me around or any sorcerers out to get me... What the heck am I doing here?_* 

She told herself that she was just the kind of person who was born to go looking for trouble, and that it would have gone against her grain to walk away from a challenge, but that didn't feel entirely right, either. 

She lost both the time and inclination to ponder such mysteries as the group arrived at the front gate of the castle. Like at the front gate, there were guards here, too, but those had been fat and lazy, with blunt weapons, there mainly for show. These were younger and tougher and better armed, and overall looked like they knew what they were doing. Upon seeing this odd group descending on them, they snapped to attention. 

"Halt! Who goes there?" one barked. 

Ruki glanced at Jenrya, and he nodded ever-so-slightly before looking back at the ground. The signal was enough to tell her that this was the gate where she would be required to tell the truth. She took a breath and did her best with an answer. 

"Travelers," she answered simply. "We need an audience with the princess. We have important news for her." 

The guards looked skeptical. One of them fixed her with a glare. 

"You're sure it's important?" he asked. 

"Absolutely sure," she answered. "Very, very important. It... concerns the missing prince." 

The guards were startled now; it looked as if they were doubting their truth spell was still in effect. 

"What kind of news have you got?" one asked. 

"We can't tell you," Ruki answered. 

There was a faint keening in the air, and Ruki grimaced. So much for the spell! 

"I mean," she amended, "we could, but it would cause an awful lot of trouble. We'd really prefer it if we could talk to the princess in private." 

The guards narrowed their eyes and whispered to each other. Eventually one turned back to her. 

"What is your name?" he asked her. 

"That's private information! The last thing I need is for my name to get blabbed around and heard by someone who shouldn't. There are people on my trail who don't want this information to get out, and if they hear about me, I'm in big trouble." 

The truth spell didn't object. The guards looked at each other. 

"You swear you aren't here to cause trouble?" one asked. 

She sighed. "It's not our intention to cause any. It just follows us around. We don't mean the princess any harm, at least. The opposite, probably." 

The truth spell remained quiet. The guards didn't appear pleased, but the one who appeared to be the more senior of the two said, "I'll see what I can do." 

He wandered off, leaving the nervous group to stand on the doorstep and try to look like they belonged there. Oddly, Hirokazu and Takato managed the best; presumably they had taken work in noble houses before, and felt at home there. In his pale cloak, Kenta seemed to simply fade into the background against the castle's white walls. Hidden under Ruki's cloak, Culumon squirmed, plainly bored by the delay. Jenrya was more nervous than Ruki had ever seen him, shifting from foot to foot and fidgeting with the clasp of his cloak. At last, the guard returned. 

"She says she'll speak with you," he said, "but keep in mind that there will be guards stationed around the doors of the room, so if you try anything..." 

"All right, we get it," said Ruki. 

A servant was produced and told to escort the group to a side chamber. Ruki noticed that while the servant was wearing a fairly ordinary uniform, suitable only for a page or a messenger, he also had a pronounced shimmer of magic about him. He wasn't quite in her league, but there was still enough that the average visitor would have had reason to be wary of him. 

"Should we be worried?" Takato whispered to her. 

"Do you think we should?" she replied. 

"Well, I don't want to be an alarmist or anything, but that guy's got a weapon under his tunic." 

She looked at the servant. 

"Are you sure?" she hissed. 

"Positive. Watch how he's moving his arms. He's trying not to let it show." 

Ruki looked again. Now she could see what he was talking about, but only because she'd been told it was there. She wondered how many other times someone had been hiding something like that from her. She reassured herself by remembering that she normally didn't let an enemy ever get close enough to her that they would be able to use a weapon, hidden or not. 

*_I'm going to have to start traveling with a mercenary from now on,_* she thought wryly, *_at least until I learn some of these tricks!_* 

At length, the group was deposited in a spacious chamber, lined with comfortably upholstered furniture and with artworks hanging on the walls. Their entrance was silenced by a thick blue carpet, fired to sapphire hue by a dozen mage-lights that hung from the ceiling. For a princess, it was probably too dull to spend much time in, but by everyday standards, it was lovely. Dirty and disheveled from walking, the travelers tread on the carpet with reluctance and looked at the furniture askance. Even Jenrya looked ill at ease, tugging at the edges of his cowl and cloak as if he thought pulling them tight enough would make him invisible. 

"They've redecorated since last time I was here," he said. His face was mostly hidden by his mask, but something in his eyes said he was trying for confidence and failing. 

"It'll be okay," said Kenta. "I mean, this is your sister you're here to see, isn't it? She won't let anyone do anything bad to you, will she?" 

"I don't know," said Jenrya. "I mean, I know she wouldn't have when I left, but... it's been three years. Anything could have happened. She could have changed. She might not remember me enough to recognize me. She's been ruling this city on her own for a long time, now... What if she's angry at me for leaving her? What if...?" 

"You can what-if yourself to death," said Hirokazu. "If your Terriermon were here, he would tell you to shut up and quit feeling sorry for yourself - and he'd be right, too." 

Jenrya laughed a little. "You're right. That's exactly what he'd say. Thanks, Hirokazu." 

"Don't mention it. What are friends for?" 

"Shh!" said Ruki, catching a hint of motion behind the closed door. "I hear something!" 

The armed page had returned, slipping through the door and fixing his guests with a disapproving expression. 

"Lady and gentlemen," he announced, "I present to you, Princess Shuichon, ruler of Mainboard." 

The door swung slowly open, and silence fell as everyone held their breath in anticipation. 

~*~

The door was ajar. Reika stared at it a moment, wondering whether it was invitation or carelessness that had made it so. Lately, interrupting Yamaki while he was at work had been leading to less than pleasant consequences. She had been lucky so far in not incurring his wrath on herself, but she had already witnessed the fate of two cleaning women who had made the mistake of trying to tidy his chambers while he was still in them, and after what he'd done to the brave servant who had tried to bring him his breakfast, she wasn't sure she wanted to test his mood. She was just considering shutting the door herself to make sure no one else got in trouble, when a voice issued from behind it. 

"I know you're out there, so you might as well come in." 

Still, she hesitated. She thought she knew him well, living with him all this time, and she'd thought they understood each other fairly well, but she couldn't quite read the tone of his voice. Was that an invitation, a request for her assistance, or a rebuke? Frowning a little, she stepped into the dark room. That puzzled her, too. He didn't know the difference between a lit room and an unlit one, but he did at least understand that most people liked the lights on when they entered a room, and he usually left his rooms and workshops illuminated for the convenience of others, if not himself. The lights shouldn't have been left off unless someone had been very careless and let the mage-lights run down, or unless he was doing a working that required darkness. She didn't like that idea, either. 

Entering the room, she found the mage seated - not working at his desk, but in an armchair off to the side, leaning back in it as if half-asleep. She would have thought he _was_ asleep if it hadn't been for a tingle of magic around him that meant he was doing something. He didn't stir as she entered, though he must have sensed her approach. 

"What are you doing?" she asked. 

"I'm searching," he answered. "I had thought I had finally managed to pin down those people with the Culumon, but they've escaped me again. I suppose I shouldn't have trusted a pack of monsters to do a man's job..." 

Reika blinked, puzzled. "The Devas, you mean?" 

"No, though they were certainly useless enough. I was talking about the Fuugamon I sent to harry them. I should have known a renowned sorceress like Ruki Makino could handle a few paltry ogres. I'll have to think of something different next time." 

"Fuugamon? Those are some of the most vicious Digimon alive! They would have killed someone if they'd caught them!" 

"Don't worry yourself. It didn't happen. That girl and her companions are too strong to die so easily - especially now that they've got that Healer tagging after them." 

"And if something happened to their Healer?" 

Yamaki couldn't glare properly with his eyes sealed shut, but he managed to give a good impression of it anyway. 

"I don't know why you're so upset. That girl and her raggle-taggle friends are little better than glorified criminals. She's a thief, and she's been given plenty of chances to surrender peacefully. I _will_ have that Digimon, and I will teach her to flout my authority." 

"What authority?" she asked warily. 

"My authority as the greatest mage in living memory," he replied, "and if this experiment works, I will have earned the right to call myself the greatest sorcerer of all time!" 

"Shibumi was the greatest mage of all time," she said. "Everyone knows that." 

"Shibumi was a fool who allowed his obsessions and experimenting to nearly destroy our world," Yamaki snapped. "All because he wanted to open a door..." 

"And yet," said Reika slowly, "you let yourself become obsessed with this artifact of yours, the key that can open all doors, and you don't see anything wrong with that, not even when there are lives at stake. You're going to have to explain the difference to me, because I'm afraid I don't' see it." 

"Don't you dare take that tone of voice with me!" he barked. "I take you in, I teach you, I house you, clothe you, give you everything you could ask for... Without me, you'd still be slaving away back in that village of yours, raising the brats of some dirty farmer! You owe everything you are to me, and this is how you speak to me?" 

"I speak to you this way because I used to think you thought of me as an equal," she answered. 

"I treated you that way because I thought you had some sense!" 

"Oh, I see how it is now - I'm only worthwhile to you when I agree with you. I see. I had thought you had some respect for me, but I see now that I was mistaken. Since you obviously don't have any use for my opinions, it looks like I had better leave." 

She turned and started to stalk out of the room. Yamaki surged to his feet and reached out a hand to stop her. 

"Reika, wait." 

"Why?" she asked. "You aren't listening to me." 

"Just give me a little time," he said. "I... I don't know what's gotten into me lately. It's so frustrating, being this close and being balked, and it's affecting my mood. I keep finding myself saying things I don't mean." 

Reika wanted to forgive him, but what he'd said had hurt. She turned to face him and found him looking back with an expression that mirrored the pain and confusion she felt. 

"You sounded like you meant them," she said. 

"I know I did. I'm sorry I said them." 

"I'm sorry we're fighting about it," she answered. She sighed tiredly. "All right. I don't like all this - you know I don't, but if we can get it over quickly..." 

"It will be. Ruki and her companions are at the heart of Mainboard City as we speak. If I alert the city guard to their presence, the guards should be able to surround them in sufficient strength that they can be captured without hurting them. I'll see to it that all of them are freed without harm. How is that?" 

"Fair enough," she said, "as long as they aren't hurt." 

"I will be very sure to tell the guards to take them unharmed," Yamaki promised. 

"Then go ahead," she said. "The sooner this is all over, the better." 

"I know how you feel," he assured her. "Don't worry. This will all be over by this evening, and everything will settle down. You'll see." 

"I hope so," she replied. 

"I'll deliver my message at once," he said. Then he did something he hadn't done in days, and leaned forward to kiss her gently. 

Reika left feeling somewhat reassured. Maybe this would be all right. After all, she'd never known anything Yamaki tried to go wrong before. Much as it sounded like bragging, he had probably been right when he said he was the greatest mage alive, and probably one of the greatest in history. And surely even the famous Ruki Makino couldn't hold off a whole city of guards! All this would be over before the sun set today... before the sun set... 

_...The sun was setting, making the battle-torn ground glow like fire, covering the jagged edges of rocks with a bloody light. A body lay on the hard packed earth. His dark cloak was crumpled around him like a shroud; his shirt was crimson. Crimson? Yamaki never wore any colors but black and white. Looking closer, she could see the red gleamed wetly. There was blood on his face..._

Reika reeled back from the vision. Where had that come from? She had experienced magical true-seeings before, but never one so vivid, or so horrifying. Could it really have been a vision of the future? 

*_I'm no Seer!_* she told herself frantically. *_The worst vision I've ever had was foreseeing the pantry running out of flour! This is just my overactive imagination - all this worrying, not enough sleep. It isn't really going to happen..._* 

She walked quickly to her own room, and closed the door tightly, as if by doing so, she could shut out even the thought of what she'd just seen. 

~*~

Everyone stared. The princess blinked back at them, eyes lively with curiosity. She was clearly younger than her brother, probably just into her teens, and youthful-looking for her age. With her wide eyes and button nose, she could have passed herself off as being only ten or eleven. She was dressed in simple white garments with only a bit of pink trim at the hems, making her look more like someone's apprentice than a princess. Even her hair was worn short, pulled back in pigtails to keep it out of her face. Ruki was surprised; she had been expecting someone more like Jenrya, someone cool and aloof. This girl was already looking around at her visitors with quick, birdlike jerks of her head, as if just itching to hurry over, greet them, and start pelting them with questions about who they were and why they were there. 

"Your highness," said the servant haughtily, as if determined to make up for his princess's lackluster appearance, "these travelers wish to speak to you privately. They say they have news of great importance." 

"Really?" asked the girl brightly. "Is it something nice? Is it a surprise?" 

"Yes," said Ruki. "It's a surprise, so _he_ has to go away." 

The princess turned to her servant. She drew herself up, half closed her eyes, and suddenly seemed to age ten years. 

"You may go now," she said, grandly, waving a negligent hand. The servant bowed and scuttled off. She waited until he was gone, and then dropped her noble manner so fast one could almost hear it break. 

"Okay, he's gone now!" she said brightly. "What did you want to say? It's good news, right? I'm tired of everything always being bad news. Everybody always wants me to listen to boring things all day long, but you don't look boring. What's your surprise?" 

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain..." Ruki began, slightly daunted by the flow of chatter. She wasn't used to people who chattered. She was saved from having to say anything else when Jenrya cleared his throat, drawing all eyes to himself. 

"Shuichon..." he said. 

She stared at him, an expression of slowly dawning comprehension on her face. Slowly, Jenrya removed his mask and hood, letting them fall away to reveal his face. He raised his eyes to meet hers. She shrieked. 

"Jen!" She hurled herself at him, flinging her arms around him and hugging him with all her strength. "You came back! You're not dead! I knew it! I knew you wouldn't really die!" 

"It's okay, Shuichon," he said, a catch in his voice. "I'm back now. Everything's going to be okay..." 

Watching the reunion, Ruki realized with a start that there were tears on the prince's face. She looked away, uncomfortable. She wasn't sure she had the right to be watching this kind of personal episode. There really should have been a way to let all this happen in privacy... 

She was startled by someone touching her shoulder. Looking around, she found that Takato had come to stand next to her. 

"It's okay," he said. 

She blinked, confused. "It is?" 

"Yeah," he replied. "I mean, I know you must miss your family, after not seeing them so long... but it's okay. We're your family now, too." 

"Oh," she said, nonplused. Then, because she knew he meant well, she added, "Thanks." 

He smiled, apparently pleased that he'd been of use, and went back to watching the sentimental drama unfolding before him. 

Meanwhile, the newly reunited siblings had released each other, and were now standing at arm's length, still staring as if they'd never seen each other before. 

"You've grown," said Jenrya. "I remember when I left, you were only this high..." 

"I'm a real princess now," said Shuichon proudly. "They stopped treating me like a little kid and started really _listening_ to me. They had to, after Dad left." Her face fell. "I wish he'd come back, though. It's no fun, doing everything all alone. Why did you have to go and leave me all alone?" 

Jenrya sighed. "I'm sorry, Shuichon. You don't know how sorry I am. It's just... well, the reason I left was..." He took a deep breath, lowered his eyes, and said, "The reason I left was that I was looking for Dad." 

"You were?" asked Shuichon. "But I thought... they told me he went to visit his friends. Did he get lost?" 

"No, he didn't. He was kidnapped," Jenrya replied. "The sorcerer Yamaki has him, and I've been working to free him." 

"Is he all right? Where is he?" 

"From what I've been able to find out, he's being kept in a cell in Yamaki's tower in New City," Jenrya replied. "Unfortunately, I can't get him out without help. Yamaki's got too many spells and too many helpers for me to stand up to him alone. That's why my friends and I came here - to ask you if you'd help us." 

"Of course I will!" the young princess exclaimed. "Wait right here, and I'll be right back!" 

Before Jenrya could say another word, she sprinted out of the room, leaving the door swinging in her wake. 

"Is she always like that?" Hirokazu asked. 

Jenrya shrugged. "She was when I knew her. It's nice to see things haven't changed much." 

"I noticed you didn't exactly tell the whole truth," said Ruki, raising an eyebrow. 

"I know. I meant to, but... I just couldn't. I can't tell her I helped put my own father in a dungeon! She'd never forgive me." He sighed, hanging his head in a posture of profound shame. "It could have been much worse. I ought to thank you, Ruki. You were right. I never should have helped Yamaki even for a minute." 

"Don't worry about it," she said. "I have the feeling you'll have plenty of opportunities to un- help him in the future." 

The group waited, becoming more tense - or bored, in some cases - as the minutes ticked by, and still the princess did not return. Jenrya had begun pacing the floor, his cloak swirling around him as he continually doubled back on himself. Hirokazu, plainly tired of waiting, had taken out his sword and started trying to polish a few nicks out of the blade. Kenta had settled down in a corner and was quietly playing with Marine Angemon with no apparent concern for safety. Culumon had fallen asleep, and Ruki had to wrap him up in her cloak to muffle the soft sounds of his snoring. Takato leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling. 

"What's taking so long?" he complained. 

"I really have no idea," Jenrya admitted. "Shuichon is usually quick with anything she does. I suppose it's just a governmental hangup. Nobody ever could do anything around here without arguing their way past a dozen advisers and minsters and things." 

"One reason why I hit the open road as soon as I could," said Ruki. "It was bad enough back home, and my dad was just a knight. I hate to think what it would be like if I'd hung around after Mom got married..." 

Hirokazu gave her a piercing look. "You never said you were noble." 

She glowered. "I'm not." 

A possible argument was headed off by the sound of footsteps hurrying down the hall, and the entire group looked up, hoping the commotion meant someone was finally planning on doing something for them and dreading that someone might have decided they were there to make trouble. They were entirely surprised to see Princess Shuichon return - not so much because they hadn't expected her to, but by the state she arrived in. 

She had swapped her princess's slippers for a pair of sturdy traveling boots, and over her clothing she had tossed a long, white, hooded cloak. She had a staff in one hand and a bow slung over one shoulder, and a pack on her back bulged with supplies. She looked around expectantly, eyes bright and eager. 

"Okay, I'm ready!" she said. 

"Ready?" asked Ruki, nonplussed. 

"To go," Shuichon clarified. "Sorry it took so long. I couldn't find my extra arrows. But I'm ready to go now!" 

"Um," said Ruki. "There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding. Did you think that when we asked you to help us, we meant we wanted you to come with us?" 

"Didn't you?" Shuichon replied. 

"Well, now that you mention it," said Jenrya, looking supremely embarrassed, "we were mostly planning on just asking for - for official protection, and supplies and things." 

"Oh," said Shuichon. She looked disappointed for a moment, and then raised her chin stubbornly. "Well, you can have those, too, but if you're going to look for Daddy, then I'm coming too, and you can't stop me. I'm tired of sitting around doing nothing. I'm coming with you!" 

Ruki and Jenrya looked at each other. 

"Conference," said Ruki. 

The two of them walked off to a far corner of the room and began a whispered conversation. 

"Tell me you didn't know she would do this," said Ruki. 

Jenrya cringed. "I should have. There's no point in trying to argue with her now; once she gets an idea in her mind..." 

"I was afraid of that," Ruki sighed. "Well, I guess we could just disappear again, if worst comes to worst." 

"She'll find us," said Jenrya. "There's no way we could get out of range in time." 

"Great," Ruki muttered. "No offense, Jenrya, but can she _do_ anything? I mean, I know she's your sister, but she's still a princess, and she's awfully young..." 

"She can fight, a little," Jenrya offered. "She knows the hand-to-hand combat they teach ladies to defend their honor, and she can use the weapons they teach noblewomen - short bow, quarterstaff, and the _shukusen_ fan..." 

"Not the most formidable weapons in the world," said Ruki. "Can she manage a sword?" 

"Never held one in her life, as far as I know," Jenrya confessed. 

"Fat lot of good that bow will do in close combat," Ruki muttered. "How about magic? Is it too much to hope she's got some of that, at least?" 

"Everyone in my family has it, to some degree," said Jenrya. "She never did get the hang of Cards, though. She's better at white magic - you know, light spells, glamours, healing-" 

"We have a healer already," Ruki pointed out. 

"And she can cast wards," Jenrya finished. 

"Well, those are moderately useful," said Ruki grudgingly. "Is she any good at it?" 

"Good enough. I can't break through them, anyway," Jenrya said. "Not that that's my specialty, but most of the time, when she wants to hide something, it stays hidden." 

"Well, let's find out," said Ruki practically. "Princess, a word with you?" 

"Sure," said Shuichon brightly. "What do you want?" 

"Your brother here tells me you're pretty good at warding spells," she said. 

Shuichon nodded. "They're what I do best. Do you want me to show you?" 

"That's exactly what I want. I'd like to see how good you are. Do you think you could ward, say... him?" Ruki pointed at Kenta, who looked up warily, as if he expected something bad to happen. 

"I think so," said Shuichon, sizing him up. "Do you want it so you can't touch him, or just so you can't find him?" 

"Either way. Both. Show me your best," said Ruki. 

"All right," said Shuichon. 

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her youthful face suddenly turning serious. Ruki saw a wave of sunset-pink magic rise from her like a thin shawl blowing away in the wind, drifting across the room to wrap itself around Kenta and Marine Angemon. For a moment, it domed above him like a bubble, and then dissipated into a thin fog, taking the young man and his Digimon with it. 

Ruki blinked. One minute, she had been looking directly at Kenta, and now he was nowhere to be seen. Experimentally, she walked closer to where she knew he had to be and reached for him. Her hand encountered a vague resistance, as if it was trying to push through fast-running water or a powerful wind. The more she pushed, the stronger the force became, until she had to step back again. She closed her eyes and tried to detect the young Healer through her magical senses. There should have been a phenomenal concentration of magic in the area, with Kenta and Marine Angemon sitting so close together, but all she could get was a hazy wash of magic, like the residue from a powerful but ancient spell. Concentrating as hard as she could, she could see a vague flickering, but it was no more than she'd see from the life-force of a small animal. She opened her eyes, impressed in spite of herself. 

"That was interesting," said Kenta's voice from nowhere in particular. "Is this how a ward is supposed to feel? I've never quite gotten the hang of it." 

"It looks to me like it's working fine," said Ruki. "Okay, Shuichon, you can take it down now." 

Shuichon let her guard down with a sigh of relief. "That was hard work. He's strong, isn't he? Not even our chief Healer has magic like that." 

Kenta blushed, apparently not yet used to being recognized for his talent. 

"So, what do you think?" asked Jenrya. "She's good, don't you think?" 

"As you said, good enough," Ruki replied. "And we certainly could _use_ someone to hide us from Yamaki. For somebody who can't see, he sure does like to spy on people." 

"Assuming he's still watching us," said Takato. "I mean, we haven't seen any sign of him..." 

Suddenly, there was a loud commotion echoing up the hallways, as of many soldiers responding to a call to arms. Ruki gave Takato a sardonic look. 

"You were saying?" she asked. 

~*~

A few moments earlier, the Captain of the City Guard was doing his usual job of protecting the city, which he usually did in the comfort of his own office with his boots propped on the desk, having his pretty serving girl see him provided with a steady supply of the liquid refreshment he needed to combat his stressful job. It was a job he was eminently well suited for. He had started out as a not-particularly- skilled young guard who had been more interested in collecting enough wages to buy beer than he had with protecting the local citizens from anything - indeed, he'd been known to occasionally enforce previously unheard-of taxes and fines if he discovered his monthly wages weren't quite going far enough. It was only natural that someone promote him to a level where he wouldn't be required to do anything much, thus putting him into a position where he'd have no influence over anything important and making room for people with more talent and scruples. All he was ever required to do was to occasionally put his name on a piece of paper, report to hearings looking appropriately grave (and hopefully sober), and occasionally process a tip or complaint. Since the only tips or complaints he ever got were from people too naive or misguided to realize he would be of no help, he had to perform this function so seldom that he usually didn't remember he had to do it at all. Since this usually led to the issue being shifted to someone with more sense, nobody ever bothered to remind him. 

On that particular afternoon, the Captain was dozing peacefully, when he was startled from his official napping by a peculiar sound, like a great glass bell being rung. He sat up with a start, wondering if it were some kind of alarm, and whether or not he would be called upon to actually do something. The sound rang out again, and he realized it was coming from somewhere in his office. At last he realized that the sound meant his official magic mirror wanted his attention. Muttering a curse, he began digging through he heaps of papers strewn across his desk, spilling several of them on the floor and knocking over his tankard, causing him to curse with new intensity. He sincerely hoped that whoever was on the other end of the mirror-link, it wasn't the princess. It seemed to him that ever since she'd taken over as ruler-pro-tem, she'd been calling him at least once a week with some bright new idea that would make life easier and happier safer for everyone but him, since most of them required him actually getting up and doing something. At last he found the mirror stuffed under a heap of obsolete maps that he'd never bothered to throw away, and he clumsily waved a hand over it in what he hoped was the correct answering-the-mirror way. Much to his relief, the mirror began to swirl in bright colors. Suddenly, its silvery surface was replaced by the image of a blonde man in dark glasses. The Captain of the City Guard let his jaw fall open in an uncharacteristic display of shock. 

"Well?" said Yamaki. "If you're there, say something. I can't see you, you know." 

"Er, yes," said the captain. "Er. This is, ah... I mean to say, this is Captain Muroi of the Mainboard City Guard speaking. What did you - no, that's not right. I mean, how may I help you?" 

"Ah, the Captain of the Guard. Just who I wanted to speak to," said Yamaki. "This is Mitsuo Yamaki of New City. Perhaps you've heard of me. I'm calling because I need to make a report." 

"All right. Hang on a minute." 

The Captain of the Guard went rummaging through his desk drawers in search of the correct forms to fill out. His hands shook slightly. It wasn't every day he was called upon to deal with great mages like Yamaki. As a matter of fact, it wasn't _any_ day, until now, that he had been called upon to deal with great mages. Well, except maybe the king, but that was different. King Janyuu was a pleasant, agreeable sort whose magic was largely academic. If rumors could be believed, then even allowing for exaggeration, there was probably very little Yamaki couldn't do if he put his mind to it. It was definitely true that if Yamaki desired corporeal power, he could have made himself king any time he wanted to, and very few people would have dared argue with him. Within a week, there wouldn't have been any of those left. The Captain finally gave up trying to find the correct forms and pulled out a blank sheet of parchment instead. 

"All right, I'm ready," he said at last. 

"Took you long enough," Yamaki snapped. "This is urgent. Listen carefully. I have received intelligence that a certain practitioner of black magic is traveling through your city with a collection of companions - mages and warriors and the like - as well as a small but deadly band of Digimon. She will probably be using an alias, but she is actually the mage Ruki Makino." 

"The lady Cardmage?" the Captain interjected. "Begging your pardon, but isn't she, well, a legend?" 

"Are you contradicting me?" Yamaki snapped. 

"Nossir." 

"Good. Now, listen carefully. Among the girl's companions is a young man, a mage of considerable power and cunning. He is using a glamour to disguise himself as the lost Prince Jenrya. I believe that he and the girl Cardmage are planning to lure the young princes away with some wild story - probably having something to do with going to rejoin her father. Once she is removed, there will be nothing to stop the imposter from announcing himself as the rightful heir to the throne. They must be stopped before they can lure the princess out of the city, is that understood?" 

"Yessir," said the Captain, who understood completely. If an impostor took over, he would probably be ruthless enough to relieve the Captain of his job and replace him with someone he liked better. "I'll get right on it." 

"And another thing," said Yamaki, as the Captain moved his hand to cut off the mirror connection. The Captain froze. "Several of the Cardmage's companions are deserters from my service. I desire to administer my own discipline to them. Furthermore, I am curious about the methods of this sorceress. She has been employing spells with which I am unfamiliar. And I have an intellectual curiosity about these Digimon. I want the entire group captured unharmed and in a situation where I can claim them as soon as possible. If this is done as I ask, there will be a certain amount of monetary compensation bestowed upon the one who arranges it. Do I make myself clear?" 

"Er... come again, sir?" 

"Do as I say, and I'll make it worth your while." 

"Yessir. I understood that completely." 

"I thought you might. See that it is done. I'd hate for King Janyuu to return home to find his kingdom in ruins because of you." 

The mirror connection blinked out before the Captain could say another word. He shook himself. 

"Lieutenant!" he shouted. "Where's my Lieutenant Captain?" 

"Right here, sir!" called a voice. The Lieutenant came marching in. He still had a polishing cloth in his hand, and his gleaming armor showed signs of fresh attention. 

"Lieutenant, I have an urgent report! We've got a load of mages and things to capture! We've got to get to the palace on the double!" 

"Capture, sir?" the lieutenant repeated. "It's tough work to hold them mages, sir. Maybe we oughta just shoot 'em and be done with it?" 

"Idiot!" the captain snapped. "You can't just go around shooting people! We aren't some uncivilized border town, we're the capital city, the home of the king! He'd have your hide if you shot someone without giving them a proper trial!" 

"But we've done it before!" the lieutenant protested. "And I dunno where those silver chains went. We'd hafta find 'em if we wanna keep mages captive." 

"Well, find them!" the captain barked. "Or I'll have your ears for inkwells! Move!" 

The lieutenant moved. The captain sighed and began shuffling out of his office. 

"It would be easier to shoot 'em," he muttered. 

~*~

Ruki and her friends watched in dismay as soldiers flooded into the small room. There actually wasn't enough space for all of them, and a loud clattering could be heard as the ones in back ran into the ones in front, rattling armor and swords as they collided. 

"Stop!" shouted one of the ones in front. "Stop, in the name of King Janyuu and the law of Mainboard!" 

"What do you mean, stop?" Ruki asked. "It's not like we're going anywhere." 

The soldier scowled. "Don't take that tone of voice with me, mage. We know what you're up to!" 

"Really?" she said. "I don't. Enlighten me." 

"Let me handle this," Shuichon said. She turned to face the guard, drawing her regal manner around her once more. "What is the meaning of this?" 

"My princess," said the guard, making a bow, "we've come to arrest these intruders." 

"These aren't intruders," she replied. "These are my guests. We were just having a nice talk before you showed up. And besides, in case you haven't noticed, _one_ of these people is-" 

"Shuichon, don't say anything!" Jenrya hissed urgently. 

"-is my brother," Shuichon finished. She crossed her arms and glared at the guard, clearly waiting for him to start babbling apologies and hustle his cronies out of the room before she could get angry at him. Instead, he just gave her a pitying look. 

"Princess, I understand your confusion," he said gently, "but we've been told that this is not the prince." 

"What do you mean, it's not him?" asked Shuichon, plainly puzzled. 

One of the other guards piped up. "This is an impostor, princess. He's wearing a glamour to make you think he's your brother." 

"He is not," said Shuichon. "I'm a mage. I know a glamour when I sense it, and he's not wearing one. None of these people are. They're Jenrya's friends, and they're helping him look for my father - and I'm going with them!" 

A few of the guards exchanged uneasy glances. 

"That's just what they'd say if they _were_ imposters," said someone. "They're trying to lure you out into the wild so they can kill you!" 

"They are not!" Shuichon insisted. "Listen, I am the princess! You have to obey me, and if I say you can't arrest these people, then you just can't! So there." 

"Princess, be reasonable," said the first guard who had spoken. "Maybe you're right. Maybe this _is_ the prince. But we've had a reliable witness say he's not, and if we don't at least try to make sure he wasn't mistaken, there could be all kinds of trouble. You don't want to make the most powerful sorcerer in the country angry at you, do you?" 

Ruki and the others exchanged worried looks. 

"You wouldn't happen to be talking about Yamaki, would you?" asked Hirokazu. 

"How did you know?" retorted a soldier. 

"Well, come on!" Ruki said impatiently. "How many powerful sorcerers can this place, hold, anyway?" 

Shuichon was beginning to look confused. She looked from her soldiers to her brother and back again. 

"_Was_ it Sorcerer Yamaki who called you?" she asked the soldier at last. 

He nodded. 

"Well, I don't believe him," she said. "Jenrya said he's the one who caused all this trouble in the first place, and I trust my brother." 

"Princess, I think you should let us handle this," said the soldier. "Your objectivity is clouded. You need to step aside while we sort through this." 

"No!" she said. "Why won't you listen to me? I'm the _princess!_" 

"Listen to the lady," said Hirokazu. "We didn't come here looking for trouble." 

"I'm not taking the word of a mercenary," the guard spat. "You'll work for anyone who waves cash under your nose, no matter what they want." 

"Shuichon, maybe we ought to go along with them," said Jenrya. "If we take a minute to talk this over rationally, I can _prove_ who I am." 

Shuichon shook her head stubbornly. "No. I'm not letting them put you in jail over a bunch of lies. You're the prince, and they ought to respect you." 

"I'm not a prince to them any longer," said Jenrya. "I'm willing to go along quietly if it will keep us all out of trouble." 

"That's right," said the guard. "If you'll just sit quietly until Master Yamaki gets here, we'll have everything sorted out." 

Jenrya gawped. "He's coming here?" 

"That's right," the guard answered. "He can't be fooled by a glamour. He'll know if it's you or not." 

"Yeah, I'll just bet he will," Takato muttered. "Something tells me we won't be coming along quietly, after all." 

Ruki shrugged. "There's only one way to find out." 

She whipped out her sword, making the soldiers jump away. Takato and Hirokazu followed suit, and then, reluctantly, Jenrya did the same. 

"Let's re-negotiate this," said Ruki. "Either you let us go free right now, or we have a big nasty fight. Take your pick." 

There was a moment of hesitation. Then one of the guards lunged at Ruki, waving his sword. She parried him neatly and dropped into defense position, with one hand going automatically for one of her Cards. The other guards immediately followed in their comrade's wake, but Takato and Hirokazu moved in quickly on either side of Ruki, preparing to defend her. Kenta flicked something blue-white at the nearest group of soldiers that sent them toppling backwards like bowling pins. There were shouts of fear and anger from the guards, and the fighting began in earnest. 

Meanwhile, far outside of town, a small collection of Digimon were huddled in the shelter of some shade trees. 

"I'm _bored_," Terriermon complained. "When are they going to come back?" 

"Patience," said Antieramon. "They will return when they are finished." 

"But I miss Takato," said Guilmon. "I want him to come back." 

"Do you think perhaps they've run into trouble?" asked Guardromon, almost hopefully. 

"They can handle trouble," Antieramon said. "We were told to wait for them, so we must wait." 

"Hm," was Renamon's only comment. She looked off into the distance, where she could just barely see the shining city through the trees. "And yet, I wonder..." 

In a blur of golden fur, she leaped straight up and landed in the spindly branches at the very top of the tree, resting there as lightly as a bird; the slender limbs scarcely bent under her weight. Emerald eyes turned toward the city, searching for something she could not name. Her nose twitched; her sensitive ears flicked back and forth. All she could hear was the rustle of the wind and the twittering of small forest animals. Her nose picked up only innocuous scents: the heavy machine-oil smell that was Guardromon, Guilmon's reptilian musk, warmer animal scents for Terriermon and Antieramon, and the smells of tree resins and decomposing leaves, with just a hint of the distant smoke and human smells that wafted over from the city. All seemed to be in order, and yet... and yet some other sense was telling her that something was wrong. It tingled at the roots of her fur; it thrummed in her heartbeat and burned in her blood. 

Suddenly, pain struck her, and she clutched at her side. She had _felt_ something slash her to the bone, and yet when she looked, her hide was still whole and her fur unruffled. Even so, she could feel a heat like blood running from an invisible wound. Renamon dropped down from her tree. 

"We move," she said. "Now." 

"Are we going to find Takato?" asked Guilmon brightly. 

"We're going to find them all," Renamon said. "Ruki has been injured. If she is in danger, they are all in danger. Come!" 

She shot forward, more like a comet than a living being. 

"To the rescue!" bellowed Guardromon. He fired up his rockets and rushed after her, flattening several saplings in his enthusiasm. Guilmon loped after him, with Antieramon bouncing alongside them in huge bounds. 

"Hey, wait for me!" shouted Terriermon. "Come back here! I can't keep up!" 

Antieramon stopped so suddenly that his huge feet left deep gouges in the ground. He reversed his course long enough to snatch up Terriermon in one of his paws and set him gently on his head, where he was tucked safely between his ears. Within a few leaps, Antieramon was able to catch up with the rest of the group. 

"Wheeee!" Terriermon cheered. "This is fun!" 

Within moments, they were charging up the main road to the city. Travelers in their way leaped off the road into clumps of shrubbery or hid in ditches, while their wagons were tipped over and their horses took fright and raced off at full gallop. A city guard, seeing their approach, took a brave stance in front of the gate and raised his halberd. 

"Halt!" he shouted. "You can't-" 

BANG. Guardromon fired off a rocket. The guard just barely had time to dive out of the way before the explosives struck the door, obliterating it and a large chunk of the wall. The Digimon raced through the newly made opening while the unfortunate guard watched, dumbstruck. 

"Sorry about that," said Guardromon as he passed, "but desperate times call for desperate measures!" 

Somewhere inside the palace, Ruki staggered backwards, clutching at the wound in her side and thinking curses to herself. Mainly she cursed the princess's beautiful waiting chamber. These guards she was fighting were city warriors, made fat and lazy in a city where the good king had always kept trouble to a minimum and where there was little for them to do but catch pickpockets in the markets and keep their armor polished for parades. If she had been outside, she could have easily out- maneuvered them even without magic, but inside, they could easily get into formation and overwhelm her by force of numbers alone, and she couldn't use any of her best spells without the risk of blowing up a friend. The fact that the room would no longer be quite so lovely now that it had a fair amount of her blood spilled on its expensive carpet was little consolation. She was bleeding profusely, and her efforts to staunch it were thus far failing. Already she was becoming a bit light-headed. If this went on much longer, she was liable to faint, and that would be worse than embarrassing. 

Her only consolation was that the others were having marginally better luck. Kenta had immobilized several soldiers by a well-placed sleeping spell, creating what looked like a small barricade of snoring soldiers, and there was no way for anyone to get near him without stepping on a comrade. Now he had switched to Freeze Arrows, and the ground around him was littered with chunks of ice or people groaning over frostbitten hands and feet. Hirokazu and Takato stood back-to-back, slashing and stabbing at anyone who came close. A cut was dribbling blood across Hirokazu's cheek, and Takato had a hole in one sleeve, but so far their skills were proving superior to the palace guard. Jenrya stood in a corner, occasionally making a stab with his sword or firing off a small spell, but for the most part, he was being left alone. The reason for this was that the princess had situated herself in front of him and was using her staff to smack anyone who dared try to harm him. Her skill with the weapon was not nearly enough to hold off a regiment of soldiers, but they seemed uncertain as to exactly how to deal with the fact that their princess was picking a fight with them. 

*_I've got to hand it to her,_* thought Ruki. *_She's got guts._* 

Then she jumped backwards, barely avoiding a slash that would have kept the same from being said about her. Fortunately, she had anticipated the move in time, and her intestines stayed safely inside her. She deflected the blow and winced as the movement pulled at her fresh wound. She winced; she _would_ have to get herself stabbed in her right side. She considered switching her sword to her left hand. She _could_ fight left-handed, but she wasn't nearly as coordinated that way. Of course, she wasn't doing very well this way, either... 

Someone dove at the princess, hitting her from the side and pinning her to the ground, keeping her unharmed but immobilized. While she screamed in rage and struggled to throw off the larger, heavier man, another soldier moved in to drive his sword at Jenrya. Jenrya deflected the attack and riposted, driving the other man back a pace. The soldier was not put off for long, though; he was a veteran of several fights, old enough to have gray in his hair and scars on his skin, but still young enough to have power in his muscles and quickness in his responses. Good as Jenrya was, he was hard- pressed to keep his opponent from scoring. There was a clash as the two swords met and locked. The soldier's eyes suddenly widened in surprise. 

"Jenrya!" he exclaimed. "Prince Jenrya, it _is_ you!" 

Jenrya blinked in surprise. Then a light of recognition crossed his fingers. 

"Yes! I remember you," said Jenrya. "You're Yosuke, aren't you? You taught me the sword when I was just a little thing..." 

"That's right! I knew it was you!" said Yosuke the soldier. "Let them say all they want that you're beglamoured, but I'd know your style with a sword anywhere." 

He shouted above all the ruckus, "Hold, off, men! This _is_ the prince! You're making a mistake!" 

A few people stopped what they were doing to look at him questioningly. Some seemed inclined to believe him, but others still wore looks of open skepticism. 

"The prince is dead," said one of the soldiers. 

"He is not, because this is him," said Yosuke. "I'd bet my life on it!" 

"You're caught in his spell," someone else said. "If you won't fight him, than I will!" 

The soldier sprang at him, and Yosuke moved to block him. He did not move fast enough, and staggered backwards with blood fountaining from his shoulder. Jenrya stared in shock. 

"How dare you!" he shouted, and rushed towards him with sword raised. The movement prompted several of the other soldiers to rush toward him, and there was no doubt in Ruki's mind that they had forgotten temporarily about bringing back captives - the expression on their faces said they were out for blood. Ruki made a move to draw a Card, hoping that she could find something that would discourage these soldiers from taking revenge for "bespelling" their friend, but she wasn't sure she could cast a spell in time... 

Something banged. All heads turned toward the door as several Digimon burst in - some more literally than others. The door wasn't quite wide enough to admit Guardromon, who simply ripped out the doorframe and tossed it aside. Antieramon seemed to be suffering similar difficulties; the ceiling wasn't high enough for him to stand up. He compensated by reaching up and giving the ceiling a shove, pushing it into the room above and causing several shouts of alarm. Plaster rained down on friend and foe alike. Everyone stood still and stared. Renamon stepped forward, climbing easily over the body of one of the guards. He wasn't hurt - he had simply taken one look at the giant beasts who were bursting in on him and fainted. 

"I am under the impression," she said in her deep, soft voice, "that there are those here who mean harm to our friends. I can only hope that such people are willing to fight for the privilege." 

"Monsters!" someone shouted. "How dare you enter this castle! Get out!" 

He leaped at the nearest Digimon, who luckily happened to be Guardromon. His sword rebounded off of his heavy metal plating with a resounding clang. He staggered and looked up at Guardromon with a look of shock. Guardromon casually pulled the sword out of the soldier's numb hands and snapped it in half. 

"Any other takers?" he inquired. 

The soldier replied with a roar of anger. He unhooked a mace from where it hung at his side and swung it at Guardromon with all his strength. Unluckily for Guardromon, this _was_ the kind of weapon that could damage him; the heavy weapon's sharp points dug deep into his plate armor, and the robot winced in pain and staggered backwards. The other soldiers, heartened by this proof that these monsters weren't invincible, rushed forward to do battle. In the commotion, they seemed to have forgotten about their previous opponents. Ruki took the opportunity to move closer to the others - particularly to Kenta; her rib was aching fiercely. She found him crouched over the fallen soldier, Yosuke, with pink light streaming from his fingers. 

"Is he going to be all right?" Jenrya asked, as Marine Angemon hovered over his partner's shoulder and cheeped worriedly. 

"He'll be fine," said Kenta vaguely. "He's had some damage to his blood vessels, though... It will take some time to fix." 

Ruki watched the battle that the Digimon were staging with the palace guard. Renamon was leaping nimbly through the tumult, dodging swinging swords and other weapons as if they were motionless. She appeared to be enjoying herself. 

"Our Digimon have good timing," she commented. Now that she had a moment free, she could concentrating on dealing with her own injury. She couldn't heal it as well as Kenta could, but she could stop it from bleeding until he was ready to do a more thorough job. She leaned against the wall with a sigh of relief. Surprisingly, Jenrya wasn't doing anything like copying her example. 

"What's eating you?" Hirokazu asked. "Your buddy's going to be okay. Kenta said so, and he should know." 

"It's not that," Jenrya replied. "I mean, I am worried, but... Did anyone see where Shuichon went?" 

The others exchanged glances. The princess was nowhere to be seen. 

"Bet she ran off to her room to get away from the fighting," Hirokazu opined. 

"Not her," said Jenrya, shaking his head. "She'll be out in it somewhere. She's going to get herself hurt!" 

Without waiting to see what anyone else's reaction would be, Jenrya plunged back into the fray. 

Meanwhile, Shuichon was wading through the crowd as best she could. She had managed to escape the guard who had tackled her while everyone's attention was on Yosuke. Now, though, she was having trouble deciding what to do next. Like any other person, she had a certain amount of distrust for Digimon, but... judging by the things these were saying, they seemed to be here to protect Jenrya, and she couldn't argue with that. Watching the creatures array themselves between the soldiers and her brother and his friends, she decided that her place was fighting alongside them. She whipped out her bladed fan and slashed her way through the ranks to stand with them. 

"What are you doing here?" asked the great rabbit. 

"I'm helping," said Shuichon. "You're protecting my brother, aren't you?" 

The rabbit swung a heavy double bladed axe, using its flat to knock away a group of fighters who came too close. He looked down at the princess, blinking his ruby-red eyes in dawning understanding. 

"You are Shuichon, Jenrya's sister," he said. "He talks about you often." 

She blinked. "He does? You know him? Are you his friend?" 

"Yes," said the great rabbit slowly. "He is my friend. He was before I even knew the meaning of the word. I came here to defend him, but now that I've met you, I will defend you as well. Perhaps it is only because of the love I know he bears for you, but I feel I already know you, and I feel you are already very dear to me, little princess." 

Shuichon gazed up at him, her innocent brown eyes meeting his ruby ones, and an understanding seemed to pass between them, something that went past Shuichon's understanding of humans and monsters. For a moment, she thought he was right, that there _was_ some connection between herself and this noble beast... 

"Get your filthy paws off the princess!" someone shouted. 

Shuichon and Antieramon both turned at the same time - too late. A swordsman had lunged at the great rabbit and drove his blade deep into the rabbit's side. Antieramon gave a high-pitched cry and crumpled to the floor, and all eyes turned to him as he fell, whimpering and clutching at the wound. 

"How dare you!" said the princess, rounding on her soldier, who looked thoroughly taken aback. "He was just trying to protect me, and you hurt him for it!" 

"But - but princess..." 

Shuichon ignored him. She knelt next to Antieramon and stroked his fur. 

"Hey, hey, are you okay?" she called. "Please be okay, Digimon..." 

She bowed her head and sobbed, as a puddle of something reddish-purple slowly spread away from Antieramon's wound. He was bleeding heavily; it was doubtful that he could be saved even by Kenta's abilities at the rate he was losing blood. He looked at her with pain hazing his eyes. 

"If by life or death I have served..." he whispered faintly. 

Ruki was staring. It didn't seem possible that the mighty warrior who had borne so much for them already could be felled by a single sword stroke from a misguided human warrior. While she gawped, trying to imagine some course of action, she became aware of a strange noise. Something under her cloak was blipping and beeping in a frantic manner. She reached into her hidden pocket and withdrew the box that held the last two Arks. The pink one was flashing crazily. Without thinking of what she was doing, she pulled it out and threw it. 

"Princess, catch!" 

Shuichon looked up and saw something bright and shiny sailing through the air. She cupped her hands, and it seemed to soar to them as if drawn by a magnet. As soon as the box touched her skin, a pure white light shot from it to strike the prone form of Antieramon. He began to glow with a light of his own, pink and white and ruby shimmers that traveled over his entire body. Much to the amazement of all onlookers, he began rising slowly off the ground to hover in midair. There was a clamor of shouts and exclamations of amazement; there was only so much the superstitious soldiers could take. In a moment of dire peril, they could steel themselves to battle ferocious Digimon, but ferocious Digimon plus strange magical lights were a bit much for them. Most of the soldiers broke ranks and ran; those made of sterner stuff saw their comrades abandoning them and thought the better of staying behind when they were outnumbered. 

Gradually, the glowing lights diminished. So, apparently, did Antieramon. Within the veil of light, he seemed to dwindle and shrink until he was only a fraction of his size. Then the lights faded, and he drifted gently to the floor again. The wound in his side was gone - as were most of his distinguishing traits. 

"What happened?" said Hirokazu. "He shrunk!" 

"He devolved," Jenrya murmured. "It happens to Digimon, sometimes, when they're badly wounded - at least, so I've heard. I've never seen it happen before, though." 

The Digimon who had been Antieramon sat up and looked around, blinking bright black eyes. He now stood less than two feet high, and was covered in pale brown fur with patterns of pink. He bore a surprising resemblance to Terriermon. 

"What happened?" he asked. "I feel... odd." 

"Are you okay?" asked the princess, leaning closer to him for a better look. 

"I think so," he answered, "but..." He looked around, twitching his ears in puzzlement. "Everything is much bigger all of a sudden." 

Jenrya dredged up a smile. "I expect it's a passing phase." 

"Oh, he's so cute!" Shuichon squealed, picking up the little Digimon and hugging him. "Can I keep him?" 

"Yes," said Ruki. "I expect you can. Well, Princess, it looks like you're officially a part of our little band." 

Terriermon trotted over to have a better look at this new arrival. "Hey, you look just like me! Kind of. What are you now?" 

"I'm a Lopmon. Do I have to stay like this? I'm not sure I'll be much use as a fighter this way..." 

"Hey, look on the bright side," said Takato. "At least you won't eat so much this way." 

Jenrya seemed not to be paying attention. He was staring off into nowhere, listening intently. 

"I think we should discuss this somewhere else," he said. "I have a feeling this place is going to be getting quite lively very soon, and I don't want to be around when it does. Shuichon, can you ward us so we can't be seen? I don't want anyone to be able to find us, with eyes, ears, or magic, until we're far, far away from here." 

"Does that mean I can come with you?" Shuichon asked hopefully. 

"There doesn't seem to be much choice," Ruki replied. "Better focus your wards on Kenta and me most of all. We stand out to people with magic-sight. No offense, Jenrya." 

Shuichon nodded, and again the veil of pink light rose up to cover them all, human and Digimon alike. Ruki felt a brush as of soft silk against her skin, and she knew she was under the protection of a strong but subtle spell. It might just hold up against Yamaki's spying eyes, for a while. She looked around and realized she couldn't see the rest of the group... or rather, she could see them as vague and flickering shapes. She doubted anyone outside the spell could see them at all. 

"All right, gang," she said, her voice muffled within the spell. "Let's get going." 

So, covered by their veil of secrecy, they slipped unnoticed through the busy castle and vanished into the streets of the city. 

~*~

A messenger stood uneasily before the door, shifting from foot to foot. The expression on his face said clearly that he would much rather be elsewhere, and certainly not delivering the report he had to offer. The only thing that was good about his situation was that the lord of the manor had locked himself into his room and was refusing to come out, allowing the hapless junior sorcerer to deliver his report to the more gentle-natured lady of the house. Reika listened to his news with a frown, but she had no words of criticism to give him. 

"Why did I have a feeling things would go this way?" she murmured, more to herself than the miserable young man. 

"I'm very sorry, my lady," he said. 

"Don't apologize. None of this was your doing," she told him. Her lips tightened to a thin line. "I shall find the one responsible for this and give him a piece of my mind. You are dismissed." 

The messenger bowed to her and scuttled from the room. Reika heaved a deep sigh of frustration, shook her head sadly, and began walking briskly through the halls of the house to seek out her mentor. 

Naturally, the door to his room was closed. She rapped against it sharply, ignoring the sparks of magical wards, meant to keep out people who did not belong. Such a person would receive a nasty jolt. She received only twinkling lights to let her know he was in no mood to talk to her, but at the moment, she did not care. 

"You are going to let me in," she said firmly. "I refuse to talk to you through a closed door." 

"What is it now?" Yamaki snapped. 

"Your plan has backfired," she told him. "Badly." 

"How?" 

"Come out of your hole so I can talk to you." 

There was a rustling within the room, and the door opened. Yamaki could not look out, precisely, but he did at least step up to the door to meet her there, and she did not quite like what she saw. There was something wrong about him, making him look drawn and pale, and there was a sheen of sweat on his skin. 

"I am... not in the best of moods, at present," he said. His voice sounded hoarse. "What has happened?" 

"A fiasco, as far as I can tell," Reika replied. "Some people are saying the Princess of Mainboard has been kidnapped. Some people are saying the crown prince has returned. Some people say an impostor disguised as the prince tried to usurp the throne. And some people are saying _you_ sent a mob of vicious Digimon to attack the royal palace. It seems to be a fact that at least three people were injured. We agreed that they would be taken alive and unharmed. Would you like to explain the meaning of this?" 

There was a long silence. 

"I was not expecting that," he said at last. 

"Is that all you have to say for yourself?" she asked. 

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Reika, please... I'm not feeling well right now. Perhaps we can discuss this some other time..." 

"Mitsuo, can't you see what this is doing to you?" she whispered. "It's eating you alive. I have been so worried about you lately. You're not yourself. You're not eating. You're not sleeping. You're going to kill yourself if this keeps up. Is it worth losing your life for this?" 

"Perhaps you're right," he said heavily. "Something is draining my strength. I don't know that I have the power to do anything else today. I should sleep. I'm not thinking clearly." 

"You should sleep," she agreed. "Is there anything I can do for you, or get for you? A sleeping drought, perhaps?" 

"No... no... Solitude is what I need now." 

"But you've been locked inside all day!" 

"It can't be helped. Try to understand, Reika... something has gone wrong, and I need to fix it. Until it is mended, it is dangerous for you. Stay away until I tell you I am ready." 

"But-" 

"No buts. I'm doing this for your own good, Reika." 

She sighed. "I hope you mean that, and you aren't just saying that." 

"I do. Goodbye, Reika. I will see you in the morning." 

He closed his door gently. Reika stood there for a moment, puzzled. Something was not right here. He had been so confident just this morning.... Where had things gone wrong? Even as she stood there, she thought she heard strange sounds coming from within the chamber, something that sounded like a pleading voice, and something else like deranged laughter. Both voices sounded familiar, and most disturbing of all, they both sounded exactly the same. 

**To Be Continued**


	6. The Priestess and the Beast

**The Priestess and the Beast**

**By: SilvorMoon**

The sun beamed warmly down on the young soldier, who was stretched out full-length on a conveniently flat rock he had found. A few yards away, his Digimon partner was gnawing on the remains of dinner. The other Digimon were scattered around, some taking a peaceful evening nap, or just admiring the scenery. Most of them weren't, though. They had already seen this scenery a few times before. 

"I'm telling you, we're lost!" 

"I know we're lost, dammit! _I_ was the one who said we'd already passed that boulder, and _you_ said you knew where you were going..." 

Most of the group was either listening to the argument Ruki and Jenrya were having, or were actively participating in it. Hirokazu in particular seemed to be enjoying watching the fiery mage and the normally calm prince, both of whose nerves seemed somewhat frayed by their near escape from Mainboard City. Now they were both rather tired after a long and brisk hike through the countryside, avoiding the main roads and hacking through the underbrush. Now everyone was tired, footsore, a bit scratched and in some cases bruised, and in the case of Ruki and Jenrya, also rather red in the face from shouting at each other. 

"You know," said Takato, "I'm not the expert here or anything, but if you're worried about not being found, maybe yelling at the top of your lungs isn't such a good idea." 

Both Ruki and Jenrya became silent at once, and turned to fix him with identical cold glares. Takato looked sheepish. He had tried to sound non-accusatory, but... 

"He's probably right," said Kenta quietly. "Princess Shuichon can't protect us all the time." 

He nodded in the direction of the young princess. Worn out by the excitement of the day, she had fallen asleep against the base of a tree, with her arms wrapped tightly around her new partner. The former Antieramon, now Lopmon, was still awake, and accepting this peculiar treatment with his usual dignity. As one who had lived most of his life as a warrior for one cause or another, the condition of being snuggled by a teenaged princess was a strange one for him, and the expression on his face was that of someone who really didn't comprehend what was going on but was not far from deciding that it could be worse. 

Jenrya managed to look contrite. 

"I guess we have pushed her a bit hard today," he said. "We should be more careful." 

"Humph," said Ruki. She looked a bit sorry to have her argument called off just as she was starting to enjoy it. "Well, if anyone has any calm, sensible suggestions, I'll listen to them, but seeing as how everyone here is as lost as I am..." 

"You got me," said Takato. He got up off his rock and started picking bits off moss off his armor. The rock had been covered with a great deal of dry, half-dead plant matter, and he was dismayed to find that most of his back now appeared to be growing greenish fur. 

"Maybe we oughta just camp out here for the night," Hirokazu suggested. "Start fresh in the morning and all that stuff. Maybe it'll look better when there's more light." He glared up at the sky, which was now turning deep blue at its eastern edge. Clouds were sweeping in from somewhere, putting in the framework for a dramatic sunset. 

"This would be a reasonable place to stay," said Renamon, "provided none of us are bothered by the prospect of sleeping in the rain." 

"Rain?" Kenta squawked. "Who said anything about rain?" 

"I did," said Renamon, "and I'd wager I know more about it than you. I can smell it on the air - there is going to be a rainstorm. Those clouds are moving in quickly. By midnight, we'll all be soaked to the skin unless we can find or create some kind of shelter." 

"Rats," Hirokazu muttered. He looked at Ruki and Jenrya. "No chance of making it go away, is there?" 

"You're asking the wrong girl," said Ruki. "Weather magic isn't my specialty." 

"I _might_ be able to coax it away," said Jenrya, "but it might cause a tornado or a flood somewhere further down the road. Messing with weather systems is trouble any way you go at it." 

"I figured," Hirokazu said with a sigh. "Man, magic isn't good for near as much as I thought it was." 

Ruki flashed a Card at him; it shot off a few reddish sparks. "D'you want to see just how much this is good for? Do you?" 

"Easy, easy!" said Takato. "These trees are all we've got right now. We don't want to burn them down." 

"At least then we'd be warm," Ruki muttered, but she put the Card back in its pouch. Hirokazu gave a sigh of relief. 

"This is getting us nowhere," said Jenrya. "We'd almost be better off closing our eyes and picking a direction than standing around fighting like this. Its wasting time." 

"Let's make Renamon do it," said Terriermon helpfully. "She can do that disappearing thing she does and run around until she finds someplace to hide." 

Renamon gave him a cold look. "Why don't we prop you up on sticks and use your ears as a tent?" 

"Why don't we follow the sign?" 

Everyone looked at Guilmon. He looked back, blinking innocently. 

"_What_ sign?" asked Ruki at last. 

"The one Takato was sitting on," said Guilmon. 

"Huh?" said Takato. 

He walked back to the rock he'd been resting upon. His sitting on it had dislodged a good deal of dying moss, and now it was plain that there were letters carved into its surface. Takato took out a small knife and began slicing the rest of the plants away so that the message could be plainly seen. At last, when all the dirt and moss had been cleared away, all could see that the rock was marked with the following message: _Weary travelers may find rest and healing at the hospitable temple of the Flowing Tree, located three and one-half miles east of this stone._ Everyone looked at it for a long time. 

"Does anyone but me," said Jenrya, "think this is much too coincidental to be good?" 

"It's not coincidence," Ruki muttered, "it's in the script." 

"Funny name for a temple, if you ask me," said Hirokazu. "Trees don't flow. That's rivers that do that." 

"Flowing Tree, Flowing Tree," Takato said thoughtfully. "Place sounds familiar. I think I've been there before. Yeah, that's right. Two or three years ago, I think. They were having trouble with wild Digimon pestering the place, and I was stationed there for a while. Real nice bunch of people down there." 

"Well, that settles it," said Jenrya. "If it's a choice between sitting out here in the rain or holing up at this temple, I'll take the temple." 

"Me too," said Hirokazu. 

Kenta was scrutinizing the rock. "Do they have Healers there, do you think? Real ones? Like me? Do you think they could teach me anything?" 

Ruki hesitated. Her recent experiences with priests and temples had not particularly endeared either of them to her, and she was not in any rush to meet any more. She crossed her arms and frowned, and the movement drew her attention to the box concealed beneath her cape. It held just one more Ark, the one labeled _priest_. It seemed fated that she was going to have to run into one sooner or later. 

*_Much too coincidental, Jenrya said. I wonder if he knows how right he is?_* 

"I guess so," she said. "All right, folks. Let's go have a look at this temple." 

~*~

The trip to the Flowing Tree temple turned out to be a good deal easier than any of them would have expected. About a hundred yards beyond the first stone, they happened onto a track - little used except by animals and almost completely overgrown, but it was more grass than trees and brambles, and wide enough that even Guardromon could traverse it with ease. Along the way, they found several more signs carved into convenient stones or trees, making the whole earlier episode feel somewhat less like a wild coincidence, but Ruki was not fooled. Personally, she thought it was a little rude of Fate to treat her like she wasn't smart enough to know it was there. 

At the end of the promised three-and-a-half miles, they found themselves standing on the edge of a grassy verge - not a polished, manicured lawn as they would have found near a manor or palace, but simply a place where the trees had been discouraged from growing. Instead, there was a good deal of grass of a more-or-less manageable height (Culumon couldn't walk through it, and took refuge on top of Ruki's head) and a smattering of late-blooming flowers, mostly dandelions. Standing at the center of the grassy area was a stone building, rather small for a full-fledged temple, built of crumbling white stone and partially covered with ivy. It was cylindrical in shape, with a large dome on top, and its sides were lined with columns that were cunningly carved to resemble trees, no two alike. Leading up to the entrance was a pathway lined with ancient willow trees, majestic in their size and age. 

"Yeah, this is the place," said Takato, as cheerfully as if he'd discovered it and led them all there himself. "Hasn't changed a bit." 

"Well, let's get inside, then," Hirokazu replied. He began sprinting across the grass in the direction of the path. 

"Don't you think it's a little rude to just go barging into a temple?" Jenrya asked his retreating figure. 

Hirokazu stopped long enough to look back at him and shrug. "Hey, they invited us. If they don't want visitors, they shouldn't have posted all those signs, should they? Come on, Guardromon! Let's get inside before you get rained on and rust or something." 

The logic of these arguments apparently made sense to Guardromon, because he fired up his rockets and rushed off to join his partner. The others looked at each other. 

"Let's wait," said Ruki. "If he makes them mad, better just he gets it than all of us." 

"I don't know," answered Jenrya. "If they threaten Hirokazu, Guardromon's likely to blow the whole temple to the Ocean of Chaos." 

There was a short pause. 

"Let's go in," said Ruki. 

They trotted across the grass as quickly as their tired feet could carry them. Even as they reached the shade of the ancient willows, they felt their strength restored, and Ruki relaxed a shade. This place was obviously all right, the kind of place where generations of Healers and White Magicians had been doing their work for so long that good magic was sunk right into the earth and flowed in the veins of the trees. White Mages were generally all right sorts of people. They never did much that was interesting, unless you happened to catch them in the middle of a plague or some other disaster, but they weren't a lot of trouble either. 

As they reached the front door, Hirokazu put his head out and gave them a "What's taking you so long?" look. 

"Come on in," he said. "There's room for everybody, y'know." 

He shoved the door open a bit wider, and everyone filed into a short hallway. Beyond that was another, grander door. Guardromon pushed through, and everyone moved forward to get their first look at the inside of the temple. They stopped and stared. 

"Ooh!" said Shuichon approvingly. "This is _nice_!" 

It was not in Ruki's nature to go "Ooh!" at anything, but that didn't mean she wasn't impressed all the same. The floor of the building was made completely of some kind of black stone, highly polished, so that everyone could see their reflections in it. The walls were made of dark wood, with lamps hung high on the walls, covered by cunning shades of gold and green glass, so that the room seemed to be lit by sunlight filtering through leaves. The domed ceiling was as black as the floor, save that tiny lights had been set in it that copied the constellations outside. At the center of the room stood a fountain the size and shape of a small willow tree, filling most of the room. Water flowed up from somewhere in its trunk to trickle down its drooping branches to fall into a network of channels in the floor. They carried thin ribbons of water around the room in a complex pattern that the mages in the group recognized as a sign for healing and protection. The water shimmered even in the muted light, seeming almost to glow. 

As they watched, a small door in the back of the room opened, and someone stepped out. It was difficult to tell the figure's gender, as their features were completely concealed by a hooded robe of deep blue trimmed in forest green. Everyone immediately tensed, but the newcomer took no notice of visitors to the temple. Instead, they walked reverently up to the statue of the tree, bowed slightly, and then slipped a wooden flute from their sleeve and began to play. It was a soft, flowing melody that brought to mind water flowing over stones and trees swaying gently in the wind. As they played, the flutist walked slowly around the room, tracing out a complicated pattern that seemed to be in some way dictated by the patterns on the floor. Those with the sight to see it noticed that a pale blue-white glow had started to rise up from the fountain and the water until it gradually suffused everything like a fog. The flutist finished the song, stopping back in front of the tree and bowing once more. The web of magic that had fallen over the room seemed to writhe a bit and then settled into place like something curling up to go to sleep. 

Ruki nodded in appreciation. It was a nicely worked spell - the combination of the music, the movements, the flowing water in the set pattern... it had obviously been perfected over a long period of time, with every step and note in its place. The resulting magic, whatever it was for, was likely to be both strong and resilient. Takato, who, after all, couldn't see magic, seemed to think it was all just a performance, and applauded politely. 

The musician jumped, and nearly dropped the flute into the fountain. The hood fell back, revealing the face of a young woman with long brown hair and matching brown eyes. She looked at her visitors with an expression of shock that made Ruki fleetingly think that they were going to be thrown out, after all. As it turned out, the problem she was about to end up with was something like the reverse. 

"Takato!" she squealed happily. 

Forgetting all priestess protocol, she rushed across the room to throw her arms around the startled young soldier. He returned the embrace somewhat awkwardly. 

"Uh... Hi, Juri," he said. "Long time no see." 

"Friend of yours?" asked Ruki dryly. 

"Uh, kinda," said Takato. He seemed to be trying to find a polite way of disengaging himself from the priestess's embrace, but couldn't seem to figure out just how it should be done. "Guys, this is Juri. She's... kind of a friend." 

"I can see that," said Hirokazu, with a leer that Juri thankfully didn't see. Takato, however, blushed and glared fiercely at him. 

Juri finally released him, and turned to have a look at the rest of her visitors. 

"Hello," she said. "Welcome to the Temple of the Flowing Tree. I'm Juri, the chief acolyte here. Please, allow me to extend the hospitality of the Order." 

"You aren't going to ask us who we are or anything?" asked Jenrya. 

"Of course not," she said, looking at him as if he was being rather silly. "I took an oath of hospitality. All travelers in need are welcome here. Besides, any friend of Takato's is a friend of mine." 

"So you're not worried that we're dangerous vagrants or something like that?" asked Hirokazu. 

"Why? Are you?" 

"Well, no, but-" 

"Then that's all right, then," she said. 

"The truth is," said Jenrya, "that we're kind of in a tight spot. There are dangerous people following us, and you might be in danger if you shelter us." 

"Oh, I don't think so. You'll be all right here," she said. "This is a protected place. I've just put down the wards for the night; you should be safe until morning, at least. I've gotten very good at them, by now." 

"Hm," said Jenrya. He closed his eyes a moment, testing. Now that he thought about it, he realized that there _were_ wards set. They were just very, very subtle - they felt so much like a part of the trees and the water and the earth and the building itself that they were nearly impossible to detect. Within this sacred space, anyway, he imagined that he and his friends would be completely invisible to a magical search. Unless someone actually came and peered in the windows at them, they should be well-protected. 

"I guess you're right," he said. "All right. Thank you for your hospitality." 

She smiled. "You're welcome. It's nice to have company. Is there anything I can get you? Something to eat, maybe?" 

"Yeah!" said Hirokazu. 

"Me too, me too!" said Guilmon. 

"You ate already. I saw you," said Takato. 

"I'm hungry again!" 

Ruki put her hand to her face. It had been a long and stressful day, and that plus the impending rain was giving her a headache. Even a Healer couldn't do but so much for weather-headaches. She thought about asking if she could just be shown to someplace to sleep, but the sudden patter of rain on the roof was making her feel chilled inside. It wouldn't hurt to have a quick chat with this priestess, either. 

"I could go for something hot to drink," she said. 

"I'll put on a pot of tea," said Juri. 

She turned and headed for another door, waving for the rest of the group to follow. Ruki, not in as much of a hurry as the others, found herself walking in the back with Jenrya. 

"So, you're the expert on temples and things," she said. "What have we walked into?" 

"I thought you were an expert," he replied. 

"Not on the ceremonial stuff. I just clean 'em out when their occupants decamp." 

"Oh. Well, this is a temple dedicated to the forces of Nature. No particular deity involved - they just pay their respects to the air and water and earth in general." 

"Ah," she said dismissively. "Tree huggers." 

"I wouldn't say that to her, if I were you. From what I understand, they have their own system of magic that's very old and very subtle. Not many people know much about it. She might pull out a surprise, and then you'd be sorry." 

"I wasn't going to say anything to her," said Ruki. "Not while it's still raining, anyway. I'd rather stay here tonight if I can get away with it." She looked around a little. "It's a nice place, if it comes to that." 

Jenrya nodded. "It is nice... They're a dying breed, you know." 

"Yeah. Seems like all the old temples are drying up." 

"It's kind of sad." 

"Yeah." 

"It makes me wonder what we'll replace them with." 

"Who says we have to?" asked Ruki. 

Jenrya shrugged. "Well, everyone has got to believe in something. Gods or demons or Nature... something bigger than themselves. It gives them perspective. And hope." 

"What do you believe in?" 

"Me? It's hard to say. I guess... honor, maybe. Or maybe you'd call it integrity. Being true to myself and others. What about you?" 

"I don't know and I'm too tired to think about it." 

"Oh, come on. You've got to have something. What keeps you going?" 

"I dunno. Just knowing there are still things out there I haven't seen yet, I guess," she answered. "Right now, the only thing I believe for sure is that I want a hot drink and some sleep." 

Eventually they turned up in a kitchen. It was not nearly as elaborate as the main room, which would have been an oppressive atmosphere to eat in, anyway. This was a genuine, ordinary kitchen that had obviously seen much use. The counters were stained, scarred, and burned by generations of cooks, and the walls were hung with battered pots and pans and bunches of herbs. Dominating one end of the room was a sizeable oak table, equally scuffed and battered but too large and solid to look truly dilapidated. The rest of the group was getting itself situated, either seating themselves on one of several mismatched chairs, or settling down on an empty patch of floor. The smallest Digimon sat on the tabletop itself. Juri was busying herself with a teakettle and going through the cupboards for foodstuffs. 

"...to have visitors again," she was saying. "It's been awfully quiet around here." 

"No more Digimon troubles?" asked Takato. 

Juri blushed. "No. No problems at all. It's been very quiet, actually." 

Hirokazu leered again. He hadn't missed the fact that Juri had suddenly gotten very nervous when Takato addressed her. "So, you and Takato are pretty good friends, huh?" 

"Oh, yes," she answered brightly. "We met a few years ago when he came to defend the temple from a bunch of Vilemon. They were pulling up our gardens and attacking the sacred trees and all _kinds_ of nasty things! Takato fought them off single-handed and drove them away! He was so _brave_! I've never forgotten it... I always hoped you'd come back and visit again, Takato." 

He colored slightly. "Yeah, well... Here I am!" 

"I'll tell you, it's good to be here," said Jenrya, picking out a seat at the table and settling in. "After everything that's been going on, it will be nice to have a chance to enjoy some peace and quiet." 

"It is quiet around here," said Kenta. "Where is everybody? Are they asleep, or what?" 

"Um, well," Juri said, "there... aren't any." 

"There aren't?" Ruki repeated blankly. "There aren't any whats?" 

"Any others," said Juri. She bowed her head, suddenly very occupied with the bread she was slicing. "Just me." 

There was a general exclamation. 

"What happened?" asked Takato. "Last time I was here there were like a dozen of you. Where'd they all go?" 

"Different places," she said. "The chief priestess died - old age. After that, the Order just kind of lost heart. Some of them went off to join other Orders. Some just wandered off. I was the only one who really wanted to stay, so..." 

"That's so sad!" said Shuichon. 

"Oh, I'm all right," Juri replied, fastening her bright smile in place somehow. "It really isn't so bad. I know all the rituals by heart, and it doesn't take much to fix food for one, and there are so few travelers that I don't really have much else to do but keep everything nice and tidy." 

"Doesn't it get ... well, kind of lonely?" asked Takato. 

She glanced away. "Not usually. I walk in the forest a lot. The animals there are friends with me. That's enough. But it's nice to have human visitors again." 

"And Digimon," Shuichon pointed out. 

"Yeah, that's right," said Hirokazu, eyes narrowing. "How come you're so cool around them? Most girls would jump thirty feet in the air if a Digimon tried to get near them." 

"Oh, I used to," she said, walking over to the table with the teakettle. "If you walk in the forest enough, though, you see them all the time. They've never bothered me, so I've kind of gotten used to them. Some of yours are actually cute. Where did you get them?" 

"They just tagged along for the ride," said Ruki. 

"They're our friends," Shuichon clarified. "They're going to help us find my dad." 

"That's strange," said Juri. "I had thought most people were frightened of Digimon. I don't see why. Most of them are very nice, once you get to know them." 

"Yeah, well, times are changing," said Ruki dryly. "Won't be long before they're downright fashionable." 

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Terriermon said. 

A few people laughed, and the group was able to settle in for a more-or-less comfortable discussion. The young soldiers and their Digimon partners offered little in the way of conversation - it was a general fact of life that they were usually ready for a meal of some sort. Juri struck up a friendship with Shuichon, and the two of them were soon chatting happily about the latest fashions and assorted bits of gossip. Those who were left over had a debate over which direction they ought to go from there. Kenta was of the opinion that they might do better just to find someplace quiet and well-hidden and hope that all of this might blow over. The others, rather more practical, overruled him. 

"There's nowhere we can hide," said Jenrya, "not forever. The best we can do is cover our tracks a bit, but sooner or later, we're going to be found. Sooner or later, someone is going to see us, or else someone will find a way to trace us magically." 

"Which leaves only one other option," Ruki said, nodding her agreement. "We go straight to the source of the problem - and hope the twelve of us is a match for one sorcerer." 

"Aren't we?" asked Kenta. 

Ruki frowned. "That's a big 'maybe.'" 

Hirokazu gave a debonair shrug. "Hey, at least you'll get to see New City before you peg out. It's a sight!" 

"'Peg out?'" Juri repeated quizzically. 

"Yeah," said Hirokazu. "You know. Peg out. Buy the farm. Bite the dust. Cash in your chips, game over, thanks for playing." 

She shook her head. "You soldiers use the most picturesque expressions." 

"You don't know the half of it," Takato said. 

When everyone was feeling properly fed and watered, Juri escorted the group to a hallway where the other priestesses had formerly resided. They were all long gone now, without so much as a stray sock left in a corner to show they'd been there, and the rooms were rather painfully bare. Nevertheless, they were better than sleeping outdoors in the rain, which was currently coming down noisily and echoing on the domed roof. Everyone retired to their new quarters with words of thanks to their gracious hostess. 

"You know, I could almost be thankful to Takato," said Ruki, as she settled down on her bed. She had already noticed with approval that it was a good deal cleaner and better cared-for than the beds she found in most of the wayside inns she slept in. It didn't have bugs in it, either. "He put us on a pretty good trail this time." 

"Mm," said Renamon. 

Ruki rolled over to look at her partner. She was standing by the room's only window, a round porthole that looked out on the grassy lawn. Lightning flickered outside, illuminating her briefly and making her eyes and fur gleam. For a moment, Ruki was strongly reminded of the first time she had seen her - solemn and mysterious, something straight out of a dream... 

"What's eating you?" she asked. 

"There is a Digimon watching us," Renamon said. 

Ruki sat up in bed. "What kind?" 

"It is difficult to tell, at this distance," answered Renamon. Her ears flicked back and forth. "The storm interferes with my senses. It is powerful, though. Stronger than I am, possibly." 

"But not stronger than all of us put together?" 

"I would think." 

"Then we won't worry about it too much." Ruki rolled over and prepared to go to sleep. Then she had another thought. "Do you think it's going to _try_ to attack us?" 

"That is also difficult to tell. The most I can say is that it is watching us with more than usual interest. It is... _studying_ us, attempting to discern our intents and abilities. I suspect that if we do not threaten it, it will leave us alone." 

"I'll keep that in mind. Useful to know, though..." said Ruki. She yawned. It had been a long day, and she was tired. "Thanks for telling me, Renamon. You're good to have around." 

"So are you," said Renamon. "Sleep well, Ruki. I will guard you until morning." 

Ruki thought about saying that she didn't really need guarding, not while she was in a magically sealed temple in the middle of nowhere, but the words never quite made it out of her mouth. By the time it had occurred to her that what Renamon said and what she meant were possibly two slightly different things, she was already too close to sleep to think any more about it. 

~*~

It was a wonderful morning. Sure, it was a little muddy in places - particularly in places near the road, where the dusty earth had turned into a river of slop and the ruts had turned into actual rivers - but the air had a washed-clean feeling, the sun was gleaming, and a warm breeze was already at work drying things off. 

Partaking of all this natural glory were three small travelers. Two were obviously human - twin children in travel-stained clothes. Their companion, though, couldn't have been any such thing. He had horns, for one thing, and the tail was another giveaway, as was the fact that he was predominantly purple and had slitted green eyes. Ai and Makoto, along with their newfound Digimon partner, were on their way to the village known as The Hub. It was the furthest the children had ever been away from home. They were wildly excited, despite the mud in their shoes. Impmon was somewhat less enthused. 

"I still dunno why ya wanna go to some dumb town, anyway," he muttered. "It's just gonna be full of stupid humans." 

"We have to sell our treasure," Mako explained patiently. "That way we'll have money to travel on." 

"Whaddaya think we're doin' now? Kickin' back watchin' the grass grow?" 

"Well, we aren't going to travel very far without more money," Ai pointed out. "We're almost broke. Once we sell this thing, though, we can go wherever we want!" 

"Where do we want to go?" Impmon asked. 

Mako shrugged. "No idea! Guess we'll find out when we get there." 

"Great," Impmon sighed. "Lucky me. It sure was my lucky day when I hooked up with you two." 

Ai and her brother exchanged glances and tried to stifle their giggles. Impmon had done almost nothing but complain since he'd joined their traveling party. In spite of that, every morning when the pair struck camp and set out again, Impmon trotted obediently along behind them. 

In the distance, there was a crossroads. Impmon's eyes were rather sharper in the dark and semi-darkness than they were at full daylight, but he could still see it clearly up ahead. Two muddy tracks intersected each other crookedly, with a wooden signpost jabbed into the earth at one corner. Some weatherbeaten carving could just barely be discerned, but since he couldn't read, it didn't tell him much. He was far more interested in the fact that there was a man standing there. He was dressed simply in black breeches, a neat white shirt, and a black cloak. The sun glinted off his dark glasses... and also off of his polished black boots, which did not have a speck of mud on them. 

"Hold up!" he said. "Do you guys see what I see?" 

Mako shaded his eyes and peered off into the distance. "It's just a guy standing by the signpost. So what?" 

"Somethin' ain't right about him, that's what," Impmon said. "It takes one to know one, and I _am_ one." 

"One what?" asked Ai. 

Impmon held his head up proudly. "Someone who can't be trusted, that's what." 

"Oh, Impmon," she sighed. "How can you tell he can't be trusted or not? You can barely _see_ him from way back here." 

"I don't care," said Impmon. "I don't like him and if ya knew what was good for ya, you'd leave him alone." 

"I don't see why," said Mako. He was also squinting into the distance. "It doesn't even look like he's carrying any weapons. Maybe he's just waiting for someone to give him a ride to town. Anyway, we've gotta walk past him to get where we're going." 

"So we might as well talk to him," Ai finished. "Come on, let's go!" 

The twins squidged up the muddy road, splashing through puddles. Impmon rolled his eyes. 

"_Kids!_" he hissed, and dashed along after them. 

Meanwhile, Yamaki waited patiently. Things had not gone well for him thus far, but he was certain his luck was about to change. He had awakened this morning from uneasy dreams, the contents of which he could only half-remember, but it seemed to him that he'd been arguing with someone over something. The memory still disturbed him slightly, as if there had been something important in his dream that he had missed. It was a possibility. Most magic-users had at least one true Vision in their lifetimes, even if it was only a premonition about running out of potatoes for supper... but most of those kinds of dreams tended to be shockingly real and indelible from the dreamer's memory. Yamaki had never had a vision and not been able to remember it later. He chalked it all up to nightmares induced by too much stress and concentrated on the matter at hand. 

Now he had a plan. He had lost the trail of Ruki and her companions, making him think they had found a way to set up powerful wards. A few inferences had led him to guess that they had enlisted Princess Shuicon's help. He kept tabs on every magic-user of note, and he was well aware of her gifts with wards. However, wards only went so far - they would only protect a person from active seeing- spells. There were other, more subtle magics that could be used, and he had come up with just the one. It was a simple spell, really, of the kind that all juvenile mages learned in their first year of study. It allowed a person to track down related magics. For example, if one wished to find magical swords, the spellcaster could take a known magic sword and cast the spell on it, and it would seek out its bretheren like a compass. Of course, the uses of such a spell were limited, and it was viewed as primarily a curiosity. After all, most spells were so common that unless you were looking to collect a good number of the same sort of thing, it was absolutely no use as a finding spell, but if you were looking for an item that was nearly unique in all the world.... 

It had bothered Yamaki, for a while, that he had never seen magic quite like the magical ties between these ragtag humans and their Digimon friends. Now, though, that magic was going to be turned to his advantage. 

"Good afternoon," he said pleasantly, when Ai and Makoto were within speaking distance. "Where are you off to this fine morning?" 

"We're going to The Hub!" said Makoto. 

"What a coincidence. So am I," he answered. "Unfortunately, I seem to have lost my sense of direction, and I'm not quite sure where to go from here." 

"It's written right there on the sign," Ai pointed out. 

"Ah, but you see, I'm unable to read it." He indicated his dark glasses. 

"Oh!" said Ai, in dawning understanding. "Well, do you want to follow us for a while? We'll show you the way." 

"I would be most grateful if you'd accompany me," he answered politely. 

Meanwhile, Impmon watched from his vantage point in the treetops, scowling. The more he heard from this shady stranger, the less he liked him. If this was your typical blind beggar, then Impmon was a squirrel! What kind of blind man could walk all the way to a crossroads in the middle of the woods on his own, and suddenly not be able to get any further without help? There was something suspicious about all this, but Impmon didn't dare say anything to his Tamers while the mysterious stranger was close by. Cursing inwardly, Impmon scampered through the branches, listening in on their conversation. 

"So, what brings you in the direction of The Hub?" the man was inquiring. 

"We're headed to the marketplace," said Makoto. "We're going to sell some stuff so we'll have money to travel with." 

"You aren't worried you'll be attacked? There are vagrants and wild Digimon on these roads. Your voices sound young; are you sure you're up to the challenge?" 

"Oh, we can take care of ourselves," Makoto answered blithely. "We've got a-" He broke off suddenly as Ai stomped hard on his foot. 

"Don't tell him _everything_," she hissed. 

Yamaki heard the conversation clearly; people often forgot how sharp a blind man's hearing could be. He smiled slightly and pretended not to notice. 

"What were you planning on selling?" he asked instead. "I'm rather a collector of magical curiosities - you might have something that interests me." 

"Well, there's this," said Ai. 

She reached into her pack and withdrew the tin carousel, now clean and polished, offering for the blind man's inspection. He ran practiced fingers over it, taking its measure. 

"Interesting," he murmured. "A rare antique, to be sure. It would make a nice addition to my collection. I could offer you, say, three hundred gold pieces for this." 

The twins exchanged glances. Three hundred gold pieces was more money than they'd ever seen in one place before in their lives. Greed momentarily overtook caution. 

"Sold," said Ai. 

"Lovely." Yamaki took out a money purse and counted out thirty ten-piece coins into Ai's outstretched hands. She made them disappear into her satchel with a speed that was almost magical. 

"Thanks!" she said, remembering her manners. 

"You are welcome. It is a good deal for both of us... except now you have no more reason to visit The Hub, now that you've sold your wares. Unless you've picked up anything else interesting on your journeys." 

"Well, not _really_..." said Makoto slowly. 

"Nothing we could sell, anyway," Ai said. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well, we've got this thing," said Ai. She fingered the Ark, where it hung from a leather strap around her neck. "It's special, though. We've got a - a - a _sandymetal_ attachment to it. We can't sell it." 

"Ah, I see. I understand completely. There are some treasures that no treasure hunter will part with, no matter what price is offered. Nevertheless, I would like to examine it, if you'd be so kind." 

Ai hesitated a moment. She had the sudden suspicion that it would be a very bad to offer the Ark to anyone, and an equally strong feeling that it was against her best interests to refuse this man anything he wanted. Feeling torn, she slowly undid the ties that held the device in place and pressed it into the man's outstretched hand. He took it a little too eagerly and cupped his hands around it. 

"You can't keep it," Makoto reminded him. "We're just giving it to you to look at for a minute!" 

The man didn't appear to hear him. He was staring - staring? Could he do that? - fixedly down at the device in his hands, his lips moving as he whispered something inaudible. Then, suddenly, he raised his head and stared off into the distance as if he'd heard a cannon go off. He smiled suddenly. 

"Take it," he said. "I don't need it anymore." 

He flung the device at them, and Makoto had to make a dive to keep it from being lost in one of the bottomless mud puddles. When he looked up again, the man was gone. 

"Where did he go?" he asked. 

"He disappeared," said Ai. "There was just a flash, and he was gone." 

"I told ya!" said Impmon, jumping down from the trees. He landed with a splat in the mud, grimaced, and continued ranting. "I told ya that guy was trouble, and ya didn't listen to me!" 

"Now I think you're right," said Ai, helping her partner out of the puddle. "He was up to something bad." 

"He was really interested in this thing," said Makoto, frowning down at the Ark. "I'll bet this is what he was after all along... but why did he give it back?" 

"Didn't you see him?" asked Ai. "He _disappeared_. He was some kind of magician, I bet. You know magicians can find stuff just by touching things. He did some kind of a spell, and then he looked up, and then he left." 

"I wonder what he was looking for," Makoto muttered. 

There was a long moment as all three of them racked their brains. 

"Wait a minute," said Ai slowly, "didn't the others sort of say there was someone looking for them? You know, all those other guys with the Digimon?" 

"Yeah!" said Makoto. "I bet that's what he's after! He's looking for _them_." 

Ai looked crestfallen. "And we just helped them." 

"Oh," said Makoto. 

"Wouldn'ta happened if you'da listened to me," Impmon said. 

"We're sorry, Impmon," said Ai, genuinely contrite. "We'll listen next time, won't we, Mako?" 

"Yeah," Makoto agreed. 

"Well, that don't help nobody much now, does it?" said Impmon, somewhat mollified. 

"Yeah," said Ai. 

She frowned. This much could be said for the twins - they were young and rather immature, but they didn't lack for courage or determination. Now Impmon could see a matching steely glint coming into both sets of eyes, and he began to wonder if perhaps he shouldn't have kept his mouth shut about the whole thing. 

"We'll just have to warn them," said Ai at last. 

"Right. Got to," Makoto agreed. 

Impmon narrowed his eyes. "Why?" 

"Well, it's only fair," said Ai. "We put him on their trail. Now we have to help them." 

"They already know he's looking for 'em," Impmon pointed out. 

"But they don't know he knows where they are," Makoto persisted. 

"_We_ don't know where they are," said Impmon. 

"We have to try," said Ai. "Fair is fair." 

"Maybe we can get someone in The Hub to help us," Makoto said. "Come on, let's go!" 

He turned and began hurrying up the road. 

"Hey, come back here!" said Ai, dashing after him. "You've still got the thing, and it's _my_ turn to carry it! Come back!" 

Impmon sighed deeply. He would have to get stuck with a pair of naive do-gooders. Sill, he had to admit, the kids had guts. Couldn't keep them down, no sir... Feeling absurdly proud of both of them, he hurried to catch up with his partners. 

~*~

It was Ruki's custom to wake up early if she could at all manage it. She could, if necessary, get by on as little as four hours of sleep - one of the benefits of being such a powerful mage. After a restful night in the safety of the Flowing Tree Temple, lulled to sleep by the rhythm of the rain, she was now refreshed and relaxed, even though the sky was barely more than grey with the coming of morning. She let her eyes blink open, then stretched luxuriously and pushed her covers away to have a look at the new day. 

As it turned out, she wasn't the only one who was awake. Though there were signs that Renamon had made a bed out of a rug on the floor, the vulpine Digimon was now awake and leaning almost casually against the wall, peering out the window at the rising sun. The tip of her tail twitched ever-so-slightly in the manner of a cat who is about to pounce on something. 

"What are you staring at?" asked Ruki with early-morning brusqueness. She brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her eyes and peered out the window, but saw nothing but the sky, some trees, and wisps of fog. 

"I'm not staring. I'm sensing," Renamon answered mildly. "That Digimon is still out there - the one I sensed last night. It is much closer now. I am beginning to detect whiffs of hostility from it. I think it best if we leave quickly before we anger it any further." 

"Are you sure?" Ruki asked. "I get the feeling we're a whole lot safer in here with Juri's spells around us than we are out there with Yamaki hunting for us, Digimon or no Digimon. I've taken out a few Digimon in my time. I can't say I know that I could take out Yamaki." 

"As you will," said Renamon with a swish of her tail. 

Ruki glanced out the window again, as if she expected to see the mysterious Digimon peering back in at her, but there was nothing there that hadn't been there before. With a shrug, she began dressing and grooming herself for the day. It was always part of her routine to make sure her weapons and Cards were all in good working order and in their proper places, but today she took a little extra care all the same. 

Upon opening her door to face the world, the first thing she noticed was another scrap of evidence that she was not the only one awake right now. Actually, it was a scrap of parchment with a homemade look about it, with a neatly written message penned across it in an unusual pinkish ink. 

_Ruki, if you wake up and can't find me, I've gone to the woods to pick berries for lunch. Tell the others not to worry. I've already made breakfast for you all - it's in the kitchen. I'll see you later!_ It was signed, _Juri Katou._

"Well, that's friendly," said Ruki with a slight shrug. "Though we may not be seeing her. We can't hang around all week." 

She walked down the hall, knocking on doors and rousing people from their beds. Some members of the group took more waking than others. Jenrya and Kenta woke up almost instantly, while Takato and Hirokazu rolled out of bed and got moving without ever seeming to open their eyes. Shuichon, being a royal princess, was used to sleeping in, and she was still yawning and blinking sleepily when the entire group had gathered around the breakfast table... or in some cases, under the table. 

"It is still very strange, being small," Lopmon said, looking wistfully at the laden table whose surface was well above the top of his head. Jenrya smiled in faint amusement and lifted him up to the table. 

"You've gotta learn how to get around," Terriermon told him. He and Culumon had scaled the table with no problems and were already tucking in voraciously. 

"It requires an adjustment," said Lopmon. He picked up a fruit roll and began nibbling daintily. 

"Has he always been like this?" asked Shuichon. 

"No," said Jenrya. "Actually, he's loosened up a lot since you found him. He's getting downright talkative." 

"So, what are we going to do today, huh?" asked Takato. "More roaming the wilderness dodging monsters and things?" 

"Probably, yes," said Ruki. 

"Aw, nuts," Takato said. "I was hoping we could stay here a while." 

"Why?" asked Hirokazu with a leer. "Planning on spending some quality time with your girlfriend?" 

"Juri's not my girlfriend, Hirokazu." 

"Hey, I didn't say it! You're the one bringing her into this," said Hirokazu, laughing. 

"I know who you meant!" 

"Quiet, both of you," said Jenrya. "What would she think if she heard you talking about her like this?" 

Takato colored slightly. "I didn't start it - he did." 

"She won't hear you anyway," said Ruki. "She's gone out berry-picking." 

"No, she hasn't," said Kenta. 

Everyone turned to look at him. It was unusual for the deferent Healer to speak with such conviction, or to contradict anyone. 

"How do you know?" Ruki asked. 

"It's the wrong time of year for berries," said Kenta. "They're all still in flower this time of year. There won't be any berries worth picking until sometime in summer, at least." 

"Well, that's what she _said_ she's going to do," Ruki said, but with a trace of doubt in her mind. Now that she thought about it, it _was_ a little early in the year for berries... 

"Maybe we ought to go look for her?" asked Shuichon. "What if she's in trouble? We could go save her!" 

"She's a nature priestess," said Jenrya reasonably. "She probably knows this forest and its inhabitants like the back of her hand - and for all we know, nature priestesses have some way of making plants put out berries whether they're in season or not. There's no reason to worry." 

"Perhaps," said Renamon, "and perhaps not. I have been sensing a hostile presence since sometime last night. Being unfamiliar with the magic of nature priestesses, I am not in a position to judge whether or not she would be able to defend herself from such a creature, but..." 

"You mean you _knew_ there was something dangerous out there and you never told her?" asked Takato, outraged. 

Renamon lowered her head in acceptance of the blame, and said nothing. 

"Well, we've got to go find her!" Takato said. He jumped to his feet and dashed toward the door, with Guilmon loping after him with a puzzled expression on his reptilian face. 

Ruki rolled her eyes. "Oh, for crying out... Come back here, you idiot!" 

She got up and hurried after him. After some hesitation, the others got up and followed after her. Culumon stared at them and blinked. 

"Where is everyone going, culu?" 

Terriermon doubled back and grabbed him by the ear. "Come on, kid, let's make some tracks!" Culumon squeaked as Terriermon dragged him away. 

Meanwhile, Takato was barging recklessly through the nearby trees without any plan or purpose, hacking at brush and branches to clear a path. 

"Where are we going?" asked Guilmon. "Don't you want the others to help?" 

Takato stopped what he was doing with his sword half-raised. "Um. I guess..." 

"What are we going to do?" 

"Um," said Takato again. "I dunno, really. I just thought... well, Juri's my friend, and she's kind of naive. Thinking that there might be some nasty Digimon out here that's out to get her, well... makes me pretty mad, you know? But I don't even know where she is right now..." Then he slapped his forehead. "I'm an idiot. You know her scent by now, don't you?" 

Guilmon nodded agreeably. 

"Is she anywhere nearby?" 

Guilmon considered this a moment, stretching high up on his hind legs, nostrils twitching. His ears pricked up. 

"She's that way," he said, pointing. 

"Great," said Takato. He considered a moment. "Are there any other Digimon over there?" 

Guilmon sniffed again. "Uh-huh!" 

"Big ones?" 

"Uh-huh!" 

The swordsman pressed a hand to his face. "Great. Well, let's get going." 

They set off again, this time at a more careful pace, picking their way through the shrubbery, stopping every few yards to check for danger. If there had been anything larger than a rabbit moving in that forest, it wouldn't have escaped their notice. However, they went a fair distance, perhaps a quarter of a mile, without seeing anything but birds and bugs. Finally, they reached a clearing near a stream and stopped. Juri was sitting there on a convenient stone, her back turned towards them, dangling her feet in the water. She was intent on playing her flute and not noticing anything else. Takato opened his mouth to say something, but Guilmon clapped a claw over his mouth. 

"Shh!" he hissed. "The Digimon!" 

He pointed, and Takato looked. Deep in the shadows of the forest, something big was moving. Its footsteps were silent on the soft ground, and its movements were sure and graceful, but even from a distance Takato could tell that it had to be something large - ten feet high, or maybe more. The swordsman tightened his grip on his sword, tensing himself to fight or flee... 

...until it struck him that the creeping beast was making its way directly towards the unsuspecting Juri. 

"Oh, no you don't!" 

The Digimon looked up - too late. Takato was already descending on him with sword drawn. _Swish!_ The blade came down at just the right angle to completely disembowel the beast - that is, if it had stood still to take the hit. For all its size, the creature moved with surprising agility. It bounded to one side and landed on all four paws, eyeing Takato warily and awaiting his next move. 

Takato looked at the Digimon. What he had originally taken for a beast was actually more human than animal. It was obviously built to walk on two legs, not four, and its limbs terminated in hands and feet instead of paws. It even wore clothing, in the form of a pair of loose black trousers. A necklace of red beads was strung around its neck, and the scabbard of a sword was slung over its back. The only parts of it that were thoroughly animal-like was a tail that sprung from the base of his spine, and his face, which was like that of a lion. Still, there was something human-like about those intense blue eyes. That worried Takato. So did the muscles on the creature, which were roughly the size of watermelons. Takato had no doubt that if this thing got its hands on him, it could snap him in half without thinking twice about it. 

"Intruder," it rumbled, "what are you doing here?" 

"None of your business, fur-face!" Takato snapped back. "Get out of here before I make you!" 

The Digimon chuckled. "You think you can drive me off with that little pin?" 

He drew the sword on his back and brandished it at Takato. It was only a little shorter than the swordsman himself was. 

"This is a sword!" he said. "I'd like to see you block a hit from - argh!" 

While he had been talking, Takato had lunged forward, and by the element of surprise, had managed to land a glancing blow across the Digimon's thigh. Takato stopped and turned around, bracing himself for retaliation. 

"Little pin hurts, huh?" he said. 

"Why, you little...! I'll chop you to ribbons for that, you-" 

"Now, both of you boys just _stop_." 

Both of them stopped. They stared at Juri. In all the hubbub, they had forgotten she was there. Now she was standing and glaring crossly at both of them. 

"You're both being very silly," she said firmly, "and I want you to stop it. What in the great green world to you think you're doing?" 

"Protecting you!" they said in unison, and then, "Huh?" 

"Uh... come again?" said Takato. 

"Juri, do you _know_ this person?" asked the Digimon. 

"Yes," she said. "Leomon, this is Takato. Takato, this is Leomon. Leomon, listen - Takato is one of my old friends. He didn't know I was waiting for you - I told him I was going berry-picking. It's not his fault." 

"Oh," said Leomon, looking distinctly chagrined. "Well, he shouldn't have attacked me, anyway." 

"Let me get this straight," said Takato. "This is one of your Digimon friends? Geez, I was thinking you were talking about something little and cute, not something like - like..." He waved vaguely at Leomon, who glared at him. 

"Leomon has been protecting me," she said. "Ever since I was attacked in the forest one day by a Flymon. He saved my life." She smiled warmly up at the Digimon. "He really startled me! But he was so brave and so gracious... he's really such a gentleman, once you get to know him, and, well... we've gotten very close, these last few years." 

"Aw, Juri..." said Leomon, looking embarrassed. "Really, do you have to _tell_ people?" 

Juri ignored the question. "Oh, and look at your leg! You're bleeding." 

"It's just a scratch, Juri, nothing to worry about..." 

"_Really_ Takato, you should be more careful," Juri scolded. "Hold still, Leomon, I'll take care of it." 

"It's all right, I don't need you to-" 

"Er, did we come at a bad time?" 

Everyone looked up. Jenrya was standing at the edge of the clearing, looking at Takato with his bloodstained sword, Leomon with his battle scars, and Juri stubbornly clinging to the Digimon's leg. The rest of the group was filling in behind him, looking equally bemused. 

"No, you came at _exactly_ the right time," said Takato, glad for the distraction. "Hey, is Kenta somewhere nearby? We need MarineAngemon to fix this guy up." 

The little angel-Digimon was brought forth, and he hovered over Leomon's injured leg, chirping to himself at the silliness of people who felt the need to get into fights with each other. Then he puffed out a stream of blue bubbles, and the gash in Leomon's thigh healed up neatly. Even his clothing mended itself. 

"Ooh!" said Juri appreciatively. "I didn't know he could do that." 

"It's one of his talents," said Kenta. 

"Yeah," said Takato. "Sorry about that, er, Leomon. I wouldn't have attacked you if I'd have known you were a friend of Juri's. Renamon here said there was a hostile Digimon around, and when I saw you coming up behind her, I guess I just jumped to conclusions. Sorry. No hard feelings, I hope?" 

"Well..." said Leomon thoughtfully. "For one of Juri's friends, I guess I can forget about it. No hard feelings." 

"Whew!" said Takato, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "You had me worried for a minute there. I'd really rather have you as a friend instead of an enemy." 

"And that reminds me," said Ruki, cutting into the conversation. "Reading between the lines here, seems like Leomon and Juri are pretty tight. Am I right?" 

Juri colored slightly. "Something like that." 

"Right," said Ruki. She glanced at Jenrya. "Mind if I borrow your Ark a second? I want to give her the test." 

"Her?" Jenrya asked, puzzled. 

"Why not? I wanna get these things parceled out, and the writing on the last one _does_ say 'priest'... or maybe 'priestess'. It's gender-nuetral in the old writing." 

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt." Jenrya handed over his Ark without complaint, while the others gathered around to watch the familiar game begin. Ruki set out his Ark, plus her own and the one yet unclaimed and covered them all with handkerchiefs, while Juri looked puzzled. 

"What are we doing?" she asked. 

"It's a test. Don't worry, it's an easy one," said Ruki. "Just touch them, and tell us which one you like best." 

Juri considered a moment, then ran her fingers over each of the Arks in turn. No one was surprised when they stopped over the last unclaimed box as if she was magnetically attached to it. 

"Oh!" she said. "It's _purring_." 

"That means it likes you!" Terriermon piped up. 

"It's a sign," said Jenrya solemnly, glaring at his partner. "It marks a special bond between you and Leomon." 

"Oh," she said, laughing a little. "We knew _that_ already." 

"_Juri_," Leomon protested. "This is embarrassing." 

"Hold it, hold it, hold it," said Hirokazu. "I'm starting to get this weird idea... Juri, you and him... you aren't an _item_ or something, are you?" 

Juri blushed again. "Well, now that you mention it..." 

"Geez!" Hirokazu exclaimed. "And here I thought you had it for Takato." 

"Now, what gave you that idea?" she asked, looking perplexed. 

"Well, you got all blushy whenever he talked to you and stuff." 

Juri shrugged. "Well, he kept bringing Digimon into the conversation and asking what I'd been doing... I mean, this is a little irregular. I thought I might be able to keep it secret..." 

Hirokazu glanced at Jenrya. "Are priestesses _allowed_ to have boyfriends?" 

"She's a nature priestess," Jenrya answered with a shrug. "They're encouraged to follow their natural inclinations. They're a surprisingly open-minded group." He glanced at Leomon. "Not usually _this_ open-minded, but I guess there's a first time for everything..." 

"Well, that's it, then," said Ruki. "I've got all the Arks accounted for that I could. I did my job. Whatever's going to happen next is going to have to happen by itself." 

"Please don't say more weird stuff is going to happen," said Takato. "Everything is weird enough as it is." 

"Then maybe nothing will happen?" suggested Kenta, without much hope. "I mean, maybe our part is done..." 

He trailed off and stared at the air in front of them. It was shimmering wildly, all of its own accord... well, perhaps not. Air didn't do that kind of thing on its own. The more likely explanation was that someone was making it behave that way, and judging by the steadily enlarging and brightening shape in the center of the disturbance, they were about to find out who it was. 

~*~

Yamaki appeared in a clearing in a forest and took stock of his situation. His immediate reaction was disgruntlement; this was one of those situations where having mundane eyesight would have been quite useful. He had definitely found a high concentration of the peculiar magic he had been seeking, but now it lay over the landscape like a heavy purplish fog, through which everything else could only be seen as dim shadows. He strained against it, trying to make out something for certain against the general chaos. 

"Hello," said a voice from somewhere in front of him. "You'll be Yamaki, isn't that right?" 

Yamaki turned sightlessly toward the voice. It was not one he had heard before, but it was young, male, confident, and he did not like it. He turned a sightless glare in the direction he guessed the speaker lay. 

"Who are you?" he demanded. 

The voice in the fog laughed. "That is a secret!" 

"I'm warning you," said Yamaki, "I am no one to be trifled with." 

"What a coincidence," the speaker replied. "So am I." 

"Is that a challenge?" 

"No," said the voice. "Not yet. Not now. Do you want to know who I am? I am a priest. A most unusual kind of priest. I've been reading the portents, Master Yamaki, and all signs indicate that you are to bring about something very interesting, something I've been waiting a very long time for. So I am not going to get in your way... yet. Let me guess - you came here thinking I was Ruki and her friends, correct?" 

"You know about them?" 

"Yes. I know a great deal about them, in fact. And you aren't going to find them right now, no matter how much you look. They're in hiding - gone to earth, in a manner of speaking. As a matter of fact, there's only one Digimon Tamer left in the open... and that's me." 

There was a rushing in the streams of magic, as if all of them were running down a drain. When they were gone, the scenery was suddenly clear as could be. In the middle of it was a young man who positively radiated that strange energy. Lurking behind him was a massive Digimon of the sort even Yamaki would have thought twice about annoying. He suddenly realized exactly how close it had been standing to him all this time without him noticing it, and felt mildly alarmed. 

"Don't worry," said the strange priest. "He's not going to attack you. Not if I don't give the word. And I won't, because I'm leaving. Ruki and the other Tamers are going to need my help in a minute, and I'd hate to not be around to give it to them. Goodbye, Yamaki. Give my regards to your lovely assistant." 

The currents of magic shifted again, and Yamaki felt the beginnings of a transportation spell falling into alignment. He cursed himself for a fool, realizing belatedly that this person, whoever he was, had lured him onto a false trail for some nefarious purpose of his own. 

"I'll get you for this," he said. "You'll pay for making a fool of me! How do you know all these things, anyway?" 

The stranger laughed playfully, and vanished, leaving Yamaki to contemplate his cryptic last words. 

"Because... I read the script!" 

~*~

Ruki and the others stared as Ryo materialized in front of them. A few seconds later, something big and black and menacing appeared behind him. Shuichon gave a shriek and ducked behind her brother, and Juri paled slightly. The warriors in the group reached for their swords. Ruki just sighed. 

"Showoff," she muttered. "What are you doing here?" 

He grinned. "_Sore wa himitsu_ - ow!" 

"I told you I'd slug you if you tried any of that stuff on me," said Ruki. 

Ryo rubbed at his face where she'd slapped him. "Some gratitude. And I've been so helpful today, too." 

"What are you talking about?" asked Jenrya. "We haven't even seen you since we left Mainboard." 

Shuichon stared at Ryo curiously. "Who is he? Is he a priest, or what?" 

Ryo bowed. "For those who missed it last time, I'm Ryo, the Mysterious Priest. Pleasure to meet all of you. And as for being useful... you're aware that you just had a narrow shave, aren't you?" 

He was met by a collection of blank looks, which was more or less what he'd been expecting. He shrugged. 

"I thought not. Listen, your friend Yamaki paid me a visit a minute ago, but he was looking for you." 

"I'm surprised you didn't give him a point in the right direction," said Ruki sourly. 

"That would have been interesting," Ryo replied, "but lucky for your, it's in my best interests to keep you alive for a little while longer. Perhaps this is the easiest way to explain it." 

He reached into a fold in his robe and withdrew his Ark. It glowed softly to Ruki's magic-sight, and she suddenly realized that Ryo and the Digimon with him both shone ever-so-faintly with the same purplish light. Feeling an odd surge of energy nearby, she looked around and realized that the other Arks were glowing faintly now, as well. 

"That's right," said Ryo. "The circle is completed now, and the true power of the Arcs can begin to show. I've been waiting a long time for this, so don't disappoint me." 

"But what do they do?" asked Kenta, staring down at his Ark in puzzlement. "I mean, what do they _really_ do that you're so interested in." 

"That's not my story to tell," Ryo answered cryptically. "But I know someone who can. Would you like me to show you?" 

"And lead us into another trap?" asked Ruki. 

"I _led_ you to Ai and Makoto," Ryo answered. "I told you, I want the magic of the Arks completed. That was the best way to do it at the time. Either you trust me now or you don't... or you wait and see if you trust my friend." 

"And who might that be? Auntie Aqua?" asked Ruki sarcastically. 

Ryo smiled faintly. "Not quite. Would you like to meet him?" 

"Can you tell us who he is first?" asked Jenrya. 

"Of course," said Ryo. "I was hoping you would ask. It's the great sage Shibumi." 

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	7. The Sage and the Lady

**

The Sage and the Lady

**   
**

By: SilvorMoon

**

Ruki stared at Ryo, her expression twisting from surprise to disgust. She hated being lied to, especially about something so monumentally silly. 

"Hate to break it to you," she said, "but Shibumi is dead. He's _been_ dead. For a few centuries or so." 

"Oh, yes, that's right," said Ryo. "How foolish of me to forget. Listen, Ruki, you're not telling me anything I don't know. Lucky for us, he was too great a mage to let a little thing like dying get in the way of what he wanted. He had too much left to accomplish to just shrug and give up on it just because he was dead." 

"So now you want us to believe in ghosts?" asked Hirokazu. "I liked your last story better. At least it was believable." 

"He's not a ghost, either. I never said he was alive in any way, shape, or form. Think," said Ryo. "Shibumi was a Technomage, probably the greatest one to ever live. Before he died, he programmed a kind of recording, containing his memories, knowledge, and some vestiges of his personality. It functions as a holographic reproduction of himself - as close as you can get to actually having him still here in person. I know where he is, and I can take you to him, if you like. He'll answer questions for you, even if I won't. That's what it was programmed for, after all." 

"Great," Ruki muttered. "A computer. I don't trust computers." 

"Why not?" asked Ryo. "They never lie, or so it's said." 

"They do when they're programmed to," Ruki retorted. "I don't trust anything the Sage Shibumi programmed. He's a worse trickster than you are. It's his fault about the Digimon and everything. If it hadn't been for him, we probably wouldn't even be _in_ this mess." 

"True, true," said Ryo, "but if he can get us into this mess, who's to say he can't get us out again?" 

"I suppose it's possible," Jenrya commented. The light of curiosity was glinting in his eyes. "Shibumi is probably the only one left in the world who knows exactly what all this is about." 

"He is," said Ryo, grinning. 

"You mean you don't know, either, then," Hirokazu said. 

"That's true," Ryo answered, letting his jaunty smile fade a little. "It's possible he doesn't trust me any more than you do. He's told me enough to interest me, or I wouldn't be as helpful as I've been..." 

"Couldn't have told you much, then," Ruki muttered. "You sure haven't been helping us much." 

"He told me enough." Ryo sounded sulky now. "The choice is yours. Hear us out, or go on running from your enemies until they've run you ragged, without ever understanding what's really happening." 

He turned and began walking away. Everyone else stood and watched him for a moment. Ruki crossed her arms. 

"Nice try," she said. 

He stopped and turned around. "What?" 

"Trying to fake us out. You weren't really going to leave," she said. "If you were, your Digimon would be following you." 

Ryo shook his head. "Cyberdramon just never learned any subtlety." 

"Whatever," said Ruki. "I don't appreciate being manipulated. Maybe if you'd give us a minute to think it over, we might agree with you. Or not." 

"Well, think it over, already. We're wasting time." 

The group went into a huddle, with the smallest Digimon peering up from among the others' feet and Guardromon looming over them. 

"So, what do we think?" asked Takato. "Do we trust this crazy guy or not?" 

"We don't," said Ruki. "He's playing games with us, trying to get us to do what he wants." 

"But that doesn't mean we won't do it, hm?" answered Jenrya shrewdly. 

"What do you mean by that?" Hirokazu asked. 

"I believe he proposes a partnership," said Renamon. "He leads for his own reasons, and we follow for ours." 

"What if this is a trap?" asked Kenta nervously. 

"I do not believe it is," Lopmon said thoughtfully. "If only because I do not think he will let anything happen to us before we have helped him achieve his aims." 

A few people looked at the tiny Digimon in surprise. 

"Now that he's shrunk, it's easy to forget he's still a soldier," said Jenrya to no one in particular. 

"I don't think we have any choice," said Takato. "It's like he says - we can either take what he's offering, or we can go around running aimlessly until Yamaki catches us." 

"You might just be right," Ruki said slowly. "If there's one thing I'm sure of about this guy, it's that he won't go down easy. I get the feeling he might give eve Yamaki a run for his money, and if he wants us on his side..." 

"Better to ally with the strongest guy you can find," said Hirokazu. "I say we do it. We can't get into a worse jam than we're already in." 

"I knew you'd see it my way," said Ryo. 

"We see it our way," said Ruki, "and don't eavesdrop. It's rude." 

Ryo ignored her. "Since you've decided to see reason, we'll start at once. It's this way." 

He turned on his heel, his cloak flapping around him, and began walking briskly towards the east. Ruki made it a point to wait several moments, until he had gone some distance away, before she started walking. The others followed her in a ragged line. 

"You're just like a cat," Ryo said. "Always trying to make it look like everything you do is your idea." 

"I just want to get this over with," she answered sullenly. "The sooner we get wherever we're going, the sooner I can hear what you have to say, and then I can be rid of you." 

"You just keep telling yourself that," he answered. 

Ruki gave him a suspicious look. "What do you mean by that?" 

"You'll see when we get there," he answered. 

Ruki sighed and trudged along in silence, quietly debating with herself whether she was really in such a hurry to get there, after all.

* * *

Reika heard the door open, and she looked up expectantly. Despite the fact that she had been waiting for him, she was rather surprised to see Yamaki walking tiredly into the room. 

"You're back early," she commented. "Didn't you find them?" 

"No," he answered. "No, I found something altogether different, and I don't like it." 

She gave him a look of sympathy mixed with concern. "What happened, then?" 

"I am not entirely sure," Yamaki answered, "but I believe I've been given a warning." 

Reika's grip on the arm of her chair tightened. "Warning? Against what?" 

"Nothing specific, unfortunately," said Yamaki. He slumped into a chair. "It is obvious that someone knows what I am doing, someone I hadn't heard of before. A mage, by the look of things." 

"You should be able to deal with that," said Reika. "You're the best. Everyone says so. It would be impossible for someone at your level to hide themselves." 

"I'm not so sure," he answered thoughtfully. "This is magic unlike anything I've ever seen before. He called himself a priest - 'a most unusual priest' is what he said. A priest of what, I wonder?" 

"Nothing to worry about, I'm sure," said Reika, trying to inject some confidence into her voice. 

"I don't like it," Yamaki insisted. "There is strange magic at work here, the likes of which I've never seen before. It's on those devices, and it's in that priest. I suspect... I suspect it has something to do with the Digimon. He knows what I'm doing, and what that Cardmage Ruki is doing, and he is confident enough in himself that he doesn't mind my knowing about him. In fact, he wanted me to know he was ready to oppose me. I don't like it." He shook his head. "Every move I make is countered. Every plan I make fails. Maybe there is something out there more powerful than I am. Maybe I should just give up..." 

Reika bit her tongue to stop herself from saying she had wanted to give up on this wild scheme a long time ago. Then she let out a cry. Even as he'd spoken, Yamaki had pitched forward, struggling to breathe, clutching at his throat as if he were being strangled by some unseen hand. She rushed to his side, trying ineffectually to do something to help him. There didn't seem to be anything she could do - it was impossible for her to even tell what was wrong. For a few moments, he shuddered and gasped, and then gradually relaxed. Reika helped him to a sitting position, and he allowed her a few seconds to fuss over him before he waved her away. 

"I'm all right now," he said. 

"What happened?" she asked. 

"I don't know," he answered. "Whatever it was, it's passed." 

"I've been telling you, you've been pushing yourself too hard," she said. "Perhaps you should see a Healer?" 

"I may," he said. "Let me rest a bit first. If I don't feel better soon, you can call a Healer or whatever you like. In the meantime, I am going to lie down." 

He climbed carefully to his feet and walked away. Reika stayed where she was, staring off into space. 

_This is getting worse than I ever imagined it would,_ the thought. A sick feeling of worry was creeping over her. This was worse than just his old obsession. He was obviously making himself sick - and if he felt bad enough to admit the possibility of needing a Healer, he was bound to be feeling worse than he let on. Not only that, but he'd collected enemies, of the sort that could give even him problems. First it had been him interfering in the Mainboard royal family, then the legendary Cardmage Ruki, and now there was this mysterious priest in his way. Any one of them, he might have handled, but now they were pulling together what was starting to look, in her paranoid thoughts, like a small army of mages, warriors, and monsters. They already had grounds for a battle, after what he had done with the king, and if they really intended to come after him... 

The room around her seemed to go dark, and she wondered for an instant if she were about to succumb to the same thing that had stricken her teacher a moment ago. Then the darkness cleared, and she was treated to a vision. 

_There was a swathe of grass beside the forest, looking nearly blue-black in the thin moonlight. A breeze ran over it, making it toss like the waves of an ocean, and the trees in the background rustled and swayed. It sounded like an ocean... but there was something unrhythmic underlying it, something that didn't belong. There were footsteps coming closer. A girl stepped into the clearing, her violet eyes reflecting the moonlight as she scanned the area. One hand played over the hilt of a slim sword emblazoned with designs of gold and silver and set with amethysts. Hanging opposite of the sword's scabbard was a packet marked with designs Reika knew well: they were seals to keep the magic of Cards contained. The girl paused at the top of a small rise and stared off into the distance, as if searching for some distant goal. Outlined against the sky was the shape of a crumbling tower. The stars were very bright..._

Reika shook herself, and the vision faded. This vision was more an irritant than something to worry her - certainly not as worrying as the last vision she'd had. She had too many important things to do than worry about the doings of a lone swordswoman. 

_Swordswoman?_, she thought suddenly. How often did you see one of those? Particularly one who carried cards, and with that distinctive coloring. She had never seen the face of Ruki Makino, but she had heard enough about her to know what she would look like if she met her. Who else could the subject of her vision be but her? 

_If I could only find her..._

Reika frowned in concentration, trying to bring up every detail of the scene. The ruined tower loomed in her mind; she could see its broken pinnacle above the tops of the trees. She knew that tower; it stood but a few miles from the village where she had grown up. The local boys used to spend the night there as an adventure, and hunters knew it was safe shelter if they should be caught out in a rainstorm. Factoring in what she knew of the lay of the land, she was certain she could pinpoint the location of the clearing she'd seen to within half a mile. 

But finding her wasn't enough. That was the trouble with these visions - they could tell you something that had already happened, or something that wouldn't happen for a few more years. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the vision to tell her when it occurred. 

Or was there? Early in her magical career, when Yamaki had only begun to teach her, he had attempted to put her off by giving her difficult, tedious work. Among these was the memorizing of various constellations, the alignments of planets, and the phases of the moon. He had drilled her long and hard on these things, and instead of allowing herself to be discouraged by them, she had duly memorized them. Aside from earning her instructor's respect, she had picked up a skill for being able to tell the date and time by the positions of the stars and moon. 

_Very soon, then,_ she decided at last. _If I'm not mistaken, it's going to happen within the next day or two - maybe this very night._

She considered a moment. She could go and tell Yamaki that this very night, his nemesis would be alone and unguarded in empty terrain - terrain which Reika was familiar with, and which Ruki was possibly not. She could just as easily bypass Yamaki and order someone (or something) to stake out the area and deal with the young Cardmage when she arrived. Reika considered these possibilities carefully... and then decided to do something completely different. 

Meanwhile, Yamaki had retreated to his rooms. His intention had truly been to go to bed and lie down a while - a sure sign of his internal state - but he didn't make it that far. He settled for dropping into a convenient chair. It was a desk chair, and not particularly comfortable, but it would do for the moment. He leaned back and let his arms dangle at his sides. 

_Whatever you have done to me, I will not forgive you for it._

The subject of his mental threat was far away, and could not hear him, but the idea of finding the culprit and administering justice to him made Yamaki feel a bit more in control of himself. It was a feeling he needed to have right now; it had been a long time since anyone had dared to do anything to him, and he did not like the feeling of it now. He was certain, though - someone had done something to him. He could still feel a faint miasma of magic clinging to him. It was so faint, in fact, that he doubted it would have shown up to anyone who did not have his unnaturally developed sensitivity, particularly in his own magic-clouded stronghold. He was content to let Reika go on thinking this was a natural malady, but he knew otherwise. There was a spell on him, and he blamed it on that mysterious priest. 

_What has he got in mind?_ thought Yamaki peevishly, prodding at the perimeter of the spell. Despite the fact that it did not seem very strong, it seemed remarkably attached to him, and all his efforts were utterly failing to peel it away. The more he examined it, the more he became convinced it was the priest's doing - it was the same odd magic he had sensed on him when they had first met. Now it was surrounding him like a purple fog, and he could no more move it than he could grip a cloud in his hands. He had never seen anything like it before, and its nature eluded him. 

_Then I will find that priest again, and I will wring an answer out of him... and whatever roving rogues he chooses to ally himself with,_ he decided. 

He smiled grimly, feeling his strength ebbing back. There was no more thought in his mind of giving up, now. He was the greatest mage in the world, and he would not stand for any ragtag magician trying to show him up. This was no longer an academic pursuit. Now it was personal.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" 

"No." 

"Are we _almost_ there yet?" 

"No." 

"Are you really, really sure?" 

"Yes!" 

Jenrya sighed. His sister might have been admirable as an archer and talented with magic, but it had not fully dawned on him until now that she was not accustomed to walking long distances. Her boots weren't very well made for journeying, either, being a style that was fashionable in Mainboard among the upper class who wanted to look like they were bold adventuring types. They were certainly quite impressive, with their gleaming buckles and silver trim, but the thin soles and high heels weren't compatible with rough terrain. She could be forgiven for complaining a little. 

Besides, it was annoying Ryo, and by now, there wasn't anyone left who didn't feel he deserved it. 

"Look," said the priest, exasperated. "This is kind of time-sensitive, okay? We don't have time to stop and rest." 

Shuichon pouted. "Well, my feet hurt." 

"This is getting a bit tiring," said Juri softly. 

"We've been walking all day," said Hirokazu, "and we haven't had anything to eat since breakfast, and not much of that. Give it a rest, would ya?" 

The swordsman was not exaggerating. Since Ryo had joined their group that morning, he had been leading them at as brisk a pace as they could stand. Now dusk was beginning to fall, and while Ryo seemed as fresh as ever, the rest of the gang was beginning to show signs of wear. Culumon had given up entirely, and was fast asleep on Guilmon's head. 

"Can't we at least stop to eat?" asked Kenta, without much hope. 

"...Eat?" said Ryo, as if he were having trouble remembering the meaning of the word. "Eat. Hm." 

"What's the matter?" asked Hirokazu sarcastically. "Don't you ever get hungry?" 

"Not often." 

"How often is not often?" Takato asked. 

"Oh, every two weeks or so," said Ryo with a grin. 

"Come off it," siad Ruki. "We saw you eating ice cream back in Mainboard City." 

"I know." He grinned more widely. "That's why I'm not hungry now." 

"You know," said Terriermon, "I'm starting to get the feeling there's something a little weird about you." 

Ryo bowed. "Nice of you to notice." 

"He's not the only one who's getting suspicious," said Jenrya. "What kind of priest are you, anyway?" 

"That's right," said Juri. "You've never said. Nobody has said. You're not like anything I've ever seen before. You have magic, but it's not white magic, or black magic, or nature magic. What _is_ it?" 

Ryo looked around. The others looked back. Humans and Digimon alike were registering tiredness, suspicion, and general grumpiness. It was obvious they weren't going to follow him any further until they got a few answers. 

"All right, all right," he sighed. "Be that way. We'll stop a while, and you can rest and eat and I'll tell you what I know." 

"It's about time," said Jenrya. He looked around, sizing up the area. They had been traveling through a forest for most of the day, and as far as he could tell, the scenery wasn't likely to change any time soon. "And I suppose this is as good a place as any." 

"We'll be safe enough here," said Juri. "I can keep the natural elements at bay." 

"Are you sure you're not too tired?" Leomon inquired. "I am capable of protecting us all, if I need to." 

"No, I'm quite all right," she said, smiling up at him. 

For some reason, this exchange seemed to amuse Ryo. He chuckled slightly. 

"You make yourselves comfortable," he said. "I'm going to have a look at the road ahead." 

"Don't you know where you're going?" asked Ruki, giving him a withering glare. 

"Now that you mention it, no," he answered. "It's been a few years since I've been this way, and I was younger at the time. I want to make sure we're still going the right direction. You'd never forgive me if I got you all lost, would you?" 

"Fine, but be quick about it," said Ruki. "We'll have camp set up by the time you get back." 

"All right. Be good! Come on, Cyberdramon." 

With a nimble leap, Ryo bounded onto his partner's shoulders, and they were gone with a rushing of wings. 

"You know," said Takto to nobody in particular, "maybe I shouldn't, but I feel a lot safer now that he's gone." 

"Will you feel any safer when I'm gone?" asked Ruki. 

Takato did a double-take. "You aren't serious, right?" 

"Of course I'm serious," she said. "You don't think I'm letting him wander off without keeping an eye on him, do you? No way - not after what happened last time he got involved with us. Don't worry," she added, catching the looks the others were giving her. "I'll take Renamon with me to watch my back." 

"Who's going to watch _our_ backs?" Kenta wanted to know. 

"You'll be all right," she said. "You've got a mage or three and a couple of swordsmen and some Digimon. What else do you want?" 

"What if this is a trap?" asked Hirokazu, looking around uneasily. 

"It's not a trap," said Ruki. "He didn't _want_ to stop here, and if there was a trap, he'd want us to fall into it. If there is a trap, it's up ahead, and that's why I'm going." 

Without another word, she turned and marched into the forest. Renamon watched her a while, shrugged, and faded into the forest to follow her partner. 

"Do you think we should follow them?" asked Takato. "I don't want her to get in trouble." 

"Let her go," Jenrya replied. "Can't you tell she needs some time to herself?" 

"Well, I guess she has been a little crabbier than usual today, now that you mention it," Takato replied. 

Jenrya nodded. "Ruki's independent. Unless I miss my guess, she's had about enough of following someone else's lead. Let her get out and work off some steam. She can look after herself for a while." 

"Yeah, I guess so," answered Takato. "It's just... well, I've been watching her back for a while now. It's hard to let her just walk off." 

"Don't worry," said Hirokazu. "She's a legend in her own time, remember? She's not going to turn up dead in a ditch just because you weren't babysitting her. Or are you starting to get the hots for her, huh? She is kind of cute..." 

"Shut up," Takato snapped, blushing brilliantly. He stomped off to look for firewood, leaving Hirokazu to snicker quietly. 

Meanwhile, Ruki was enjoying being away from the crowd for a while. She could sense Renamon's presence nearby, but it did not bother her the way the presence of humans did, no more than the presence of the air around her could bother her. Actually, it was rather refreshing, being out from under everyone's feet for a little while, with nothing in sight but trees and plants. It made her feel a little more like herself. 

_How many days has it been since I joined this traveling circus, anyway?_ she asked herself. She wasn't even sure anymore. If you considered that the whole thing had started when she met Culumon, that made one day, and the next day she had met Takato, and after that, it had been Jenrya and Renamon, and then Guilmon the day after that... 

_More than a week, then. For over a week I've had this merry band tagging along with me. No wonder I feel like I don't have room to move._

Well, she'd have room to move soon enough. She could tell the trees were thinning out, though the light was fading. It had been difficult to tell, deep in the forest, just how much time had been passing, but now it was obvious that night was falling. It would be pitch black by the time she got back to camp, assuming her companions got around to making one. She would just have to rely on Renamon to help her find her way back, because it wasn't likely that even she would be able to find her way through unfamiliar territory to an uncertain destination in the dark. 

_Maybe I don't want to go back._

She shook her head. By this point, that idea was wishful thinking. She had gotten too used to having helpers around - people to watch her back, to help her see what she wouldn't have seen and do what she couldn't do. A stray thought, too small and undeveloped to have taken on words, suggested gently that she might miss having someone to talk to. She brushed it aside irritably. 

_They aren't going to stay forever, so you might as well get used to being alone again._ There was no chance of them staying with her once this whole ordeal was over. For one thing, Jenrya and Shuichon had a kingdom to run. Takato and Hirokazu would likely go back to Electrode City, now that they had settled their disputes, and Kenta would go where Hirokazu went. Juri had her temple. They all had places to be... all but Ruki. 

Ruki unsheathed her sword and hacked at a few bushes which were standing in her way, though it would have taken less effort to go around them, and finally emerged into a clearing. She was surprised to see that the stars had come out while she walked - she had been so wrapped up in her thoughts, she had lost all track of time. Ahead of her were waves of grass, shimmering like watered silk in the thin moonlight. She took a few cautious steps forward, taking in her surroundings. There was a ruined tower standing alone on a hill. 

_I wonder if that's where we're going?_

She didn't get time to think about it. Even as she was forming that thought, she heard a rustling, and something else grated on her magical senses, like a high-pitched sound just on the edge of hearing. At the same time, Renamon materialized out of nowhere. 

"Ruki, someone is coming," she said. 

Ruki nodded and slipped out her sword, moving instinctively closer to Renamon and bracing herself for an attack. There was no attack, though. Instead, there came a soft voice. 

"Do not be alarmed. I do not intend to attack... yet." 

Ruki looked in the direction of the voice. For a moment, she saw nothing. Then the air blurred, and a woman stepped out of the shreds of an invisibility spell. Ruki was shocked. Not by the invisibility - she had seen plenty of those while she was at the University - but by the fact that this woman radiated magic in about the same way that a vat of white-hot molten metal radiated heat. She was also outstandingly beautiful, with huge dark eyes that were probably blue and long straight hair that was most definitely red - not the fiery red of Ruki's hair, but true red, looking like dark wine in the moonlight. Despite the fact that she was apparently all alone in hostile territory, she wore nothing more protective than a thin dress of black silk, with matching slippers. 

_She's prettier than my mom,_ thought Ruki, a bit dazedly. Secretly, she'd always been rather proud that the most beautiful woman she'd ever known had been her mother, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about having to revise her opinion. 

"You're a mage," Ruki said flatly. 

"Yes," answered the woman. "And you are Ruki Makino, the famous Cardmage." 

"That's right," said Ruki. "Sorry to say, I don't have a clue who you are. Mind cluing me in?" 

"You will not have heard of me. Reika is my name. Reika Ootori." 

"Pretty name. Listen, I'm supposed to be meeting some people pretty soon, so if you could cut to the chase..." 

"Very well. I've come to ask you a favor. Something very important... something I believe only you can give me." 

Ruki glared. "I don't know what you've heard about me, lady, but I think you ought to know I don't just hand out favors. Find someone else to bail you out." 

"There is no one else." The woman's voice, calm until now, began to tremble. "You're the only one I can turn to." 

Ruki hesitated. She didn't like to see people cry, but it was generally a toss-up whether she dealt with the problem by caving in or walking away. 

"Must be a big favor," she said. 

Reika lowered her eyes. "It is." 

"So, like I said, I'm not that big on doing favors - especially not big favors. Supposing I say no?" 

"Then I will attempt to coerce you." 

Ruki sighed. "Look, maybe you missed the significance of 'legendary Cardmage'. It means I'm the _best_. Fighting me would be a waste of our time, and probably painful. You seem like a nice lady, so why don't you just go on home before you get hurt." 

"You seem to have missed something as well," answered Reika. "You see, I, too, am a Cardmage." 

Ruki almost fell over in shock. Meeting other Cardmages was something that seldom happened to her. Meeting another Cardmage who was also female and redheaded... it was a little hard to believe. She attempted to marshal her wits. 

"What, are you trying to start a club or something?" she asked. 

"No," she answered. "All I want from you is a promise." 

"I don't make promises." 

"Then I have no choice." The woman made a gesture, producing a deck of Cards. They gleamed to Ruki's magic-sight; they were no run-of-the-mill cards. "Are you sure you won't at least hear my terms?" 

Ruki's eyes narrowed. "They don't, by any chance, have anything to do with the sorcerer Yamaki, do they?" 

"I admit that they do." 

"In that case, I'm not interested." Ruki took out her deck and began shuffling it. Renamon stepped into place beside her, but Ruki waved her away. 

"No," she said. "This is a duel, and duels have to be done properly. This is between her and me." 

"As you wish," said Renamon. 

"Right, then," said Ruki. "Since you're the challenger, I get to draw first." 

"I know the rules. I had excellent training." 

"Fine. Let's go." 

Ruki flicked out a Fireball card and ignited it, making the card glow briefly with a nimbus of orange light. It was a fairly minor attack spell, as far as these things went, but Ruki didn't feel like going too far tonight. Anyone could see that this was a noblewoman, used to taking it easy. She had probably never had a real fight on a real battlefield. It would be easiest just to scare her away. 

The fireball flashed, pulsing once before shooting from the Card and flying straight toward the woman. Fast as it moved, Reika was faster, and the fireball stopped abruptly as she flourished a Card of her own that threw up a wall of winds that blew it to harmless sparks. Her hair wasn't even ruffled. 

"You aren't taking me seriously," she said. 

She produced another Card of her own, and Ruki had just enough time to register a silvery flash. That was enough to make her jump out of the way, and the next instant, the area where Ruki had been standing was obscured under a mass of ice crystals. Ruki did a fast handspring and managed to make a safe landing a few yards away. 

_That was close,_ she thought. If the ice had scored a hit, Ruki would have been frozen solid by now, or possibly impaled on an icicle - she didn't have time to analyze the specifics of the spell right now. As a matter of fact, she didn't have time to do anything - the other sorceress was amazingly fast, and had already prepared a lightning spell. Ruki was saved by instinct more than anything else; she called up a magical shield that diffused the worst of the blast. A painful tingle shot through her limbs, but it would have been much worse if it had scored a direct hit. The Card she had pulled the shield from burst into flames, and Ruki dropped its smouldering remains on the ground. 

"All right, that does it," she muttered. She pulled a fresh Card, dodged again as a volley of fireballs flew by, and let fly with a half-dozen arrows of light. Reika scrambled to erect another shield, and Ruki smirked a bit as she realized her guess was right. The spells _she_ used to guard herself were her own invention, and briefly took on the form of stuff like plastic for the few seconds they lasted. Reika's guards were air-based - effective against fire and even physical projectiles, but light-arrows were something else. A few were deflected, but two or three found their marks, and Reika cried out in pain. 

"That's why _I'm_ a legend and _you're_ not," said Ruki smugly, dusting herself off. 

Her reply was another flash. Her opponent wasn't finished yet, and Ruki was stunned by what felt like a larger-than-average snowball traveling toward her at terminal velocity. 

_Don't know that one,_ she thought vaguely, as she was thrown off her feet. She crushed a good deal of grass as she fell, slamming into the earth without form or grace. A certain amount of dirt got into her mouth. She tried to spit it out, but her muscles seemed to be not working well all of a sudden. She felt frozen and tingly, as if her veins were full of snow. 

"That is why I am training under the tutelage of the greatest mage alive, and you are not," said Reika. "Concede defeat." 

"No," said Ruki. That much, at least, she could get out. 

The next thing that came out of her mouth was a scream, as fireballs rained down on her. Renamon took a step forward, but Ruki waved her away. 

"Stay out," she said. "I told you, this is between sorceresses." 

Ruki levered herself up and managed to get to her feet. Her clothes were charred, and her skin screamed with pain every time she moved. The burns were likely to be fatal if she didn't get them treated, but she intended to treat them, so that was all right. She pushed the pain out of her mind and concentrated all her thoughts on her Cards. 

"Give it up," said Reika. "Look at you - you can barely stand." 

"I don't need to," said Ruki through clenched teeth. "And you need to learn... just because your enemy is down... doesn't mean she's out." 

Ruki gathered up the last of her remaining strength and shoved it through one last Card. There was heat against her hand as all of its energies spilled forth, creating a cloud of darkness that rushed through the entire glade. For a moment, all present were blinded, and the only sound was a rush of wind and a dry crackling noise as the grass around them withered. There was a soft gasp as Reika struggled to breathe, but it was no good. By the time the cloud had passed, Ruki was standing over her holding a sword. 

"Yeild," said Ruki. 

Reika stiffened a moment. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, raising her chin. If she had been standing, she would have looked defiant. Now she was only baring her throat for the blade. 

"I've failed," she said. "Kill me if you have to, but I won't surrender. I won't betray him." 

Ruki blinked. Here was a quandary. Maybe it was just because something about this woman reminded her of her mother, or maybe it was just a reluctance to kill someone who was being so honorable about losing. Either way, she had a hard time making herself go through with it, even if she did have permission. 

"Oh, come on," she said. "If I killed everyone who couldn't beat me in a fight, the human race would be extinct by next Tuesday." 

Reika's eyes flashed. "I'm not going to help you, you know. Even if you spare me, I won't leave him." 

"Yeah, yeah, you said so already," said Ruki. "I don't want you following me around, anyway. I've got all the friends I need, thanks just the same. So, why _are_ you so stuck on Yamaki, anyway?" 

"He is... my teacher," Reika replied, lowing her gaze. "He taught me everything I know about magic. And... he is kind to me." 

"Humph," said Ruki. 

"He is," Reika insisted. "You've only seen his bad side. He really is a good man. It's just... he hasn't been himself lately." 

"Hm," said Ruki. She was beginning to get the picture. After all, even she had been impressed by Reika's good looks. The combination of extraordinary beauty and extraordinary talent was probably enough to get even his attention. 

_So, he's got blood in his veins instead of ice, after all. That makes her... what, his lover? I guess I'd have heard if he had a wife, and she's definitely not just a student, no matter what she says._

"So he sent you out here to kill me, is that it?" she asked. 

"No!" said Reika quickly. "Don't think that of me. I didn't want any of this to happen. I've been telling him all along that this is a bad idea, but he's been stubborn about it. He always was stubborn. No, I came here on my own." 

Ruki was suspicious. "Why?" 

"To ask for mercy." 

"Oh, really?" asked Ruki. 

"Yes. I'm afraid... for his sake, I mean. He's getting himself into trouble, and I'm not sure even he can get out of it again. He's gotten so desperate, he'll do anything, even if he doesn't understand what he's doing. I'm afraid he's going to get hurt before all this is over, and I don't know how to stop it." Reika was close to tears now. It had been a long time since she'd had anyone to confide in. "If I won, I was going to make you promise not to hurt him. Now all I can do is beg. Please... I'm not asking much. Just give me a little more time. I know I can talk him out of this." 

"Hm," said Ruki. She was beginning to feel a bit foolish, now, for pressing a fight. They could have had this conversation without battling over it. Still, she'd already been on edge, and when someone who was so obviously connected to the enemy appeared, it had seemed wiser to shoot first and ask questions later. 

"I don't know why I'm saying this," said Reika - she was nearly babbling now. "I just don't want anything to happen to him. Please, whatever you do, don't kill him. I don't care what happens to me, but..." 

"Oh, give it a rest with the melodrama, would you?" Ruki snapped. "I already told you, I don't go around killing people out of hand. That goes for him, too. I'm not going to kill him unless he leaves me no other choice. If you can talk him out of hunting me and my friends, he can live as long as he wants, for all I care." 

"You promise?" asked Reika. 

Ruki thought it over for a while. 

"All right, all right, I promise," she said. "I can't speak for any of the others, but if it comes down to my choice, I won't let anyone kill him. Hey, don't start crying," she said, suddenly alarmed. "I'm not doing this 'cause I'm a nice person. Just call it professional respect." 

"Thank you," said Reika, sniffling. "You don't know what this means to me." 

Ruki shrugged. "Yeah, whatever... Look, you're kind of messed up right now, and it's kind of my fault. Do you want to follow me back to camp and get Kenta to patch you up? He could use the practice." 

"No, but thank you anyway," said Reika. "What about you? Are you going to be all right?" 

Ruki shrugged again, despite the fact that it made her burns flare up again when she moved. "I'll be okay. I have enough magic left to hold together until I get back to camp. Hey, that was some pretty good spell-slinging you did back there. What was that one with the ice?" 

"A variation on a standard freezing spell," said Reika. "It's very simple, once you get the hang of it. It's just a matter of refining the parameters... I didn't recognize that last spell you did. Or the shield spell, either." 

"A couple of my own inventions," Ruki replied. "I'll tell you what. If we both get through this mess alive, maybe we should meet up someday and swap spells. Us redheaded lady Cardmages have to stick together." 

Reika managed a wobbly smile. "I'd like that." She glanced at the sky. "I had best be getting home, or he'll wonder where I am." 

"Same here," said Ruki. "I need to get back before Ryo knows I'm gone. Well... see you around." 

She turned and walked off, trying not to let anyone see her limping. Reika climbed carefully to her feet, closed her eyes a moment... and suddenly was not there. 

As Ruki stumbled her way back into the forest, she saw a glint of gold out of the corner of her eye, and she turned her head slightly so she could meet Renamon's gaze. 

"Do you require assistance?" asked Renamon. 

Ruki shook her head. "Not the kind you can give. If you touch me, it'll just hurt more. Just... find me the quickest way back to the others, okay?" 

Renamon nodded. She threaded her way expertly through the dark forest, pausing now and then to hold branches out of Ruki's path. Ruki was grateful - if there was one thing worse than being burnt, it was being burnt and being scraped by twigs. The adrenaline rush of the fight was wearing off, and she hurt all over where the fireballs had struck her. 

_My cloak is ruined,_ she thought irritably, trying to take her mind off her injury. _She's lucky I don't send her the bill for a new one._

They arrived at the place where there had not been a camp before to find that there was one now. Takato had taken out his worries and frustrations on a heap of firewood, which had been neatly lit by a blast of fire, courtesy of Guilmon. Culumon, irrepressible as ever, had overcome his weariness almost instantly, and was now playing a game of tag with Terriermon and MarineAngemon, while Lopmon looked in on mild puzzlement Leomon and Guardromon were taking it in turns to patrol the area, and it was they who first realized Ruki had returned. 

"Look who's back," said Leomon. 

"Who goes there?" Guardromon called back. He tromped over to have a look. "Ahh, the lady hath returned!" 

"Yeah, yeah, big surprise," said Ruki. "Would you boys get out of the way? I want to sit down." 

Takato, who had been staring moodily at the campfire, raised his head. "Hey, Ruki, you're back! I was getting... hey, you're hurt!" 

Ruki was both annoyed and mildly flattered to find herself surrounded by concerned would-be helpers. She put up with their attentions for a few seconds before shooing them away, with a little help from Renamon. She eventually managed to get herself situated comfortably, not _too_ close to the campfire. She wasn't feeling particularly kindly to flames right now. 

"Er... do you need some help?" asked Kenta timidly. 

"Wouldn't hurt," she answered in her most casual voice. She ruined the effect by wincing; sitting down wasn't any more comfortable than standing up. 

Kenta gently set a hand to her skin, and healing magic trickled through her system. She sighed. She could worry about her pride later; right now, it was a blessed relief to stop hurting. 

It took her a moment to realize that Jenrya was watching her closely. She opened one eye to look back. 

"Do you mind telling us what happened to you?" he asked. "Did Ryo have something to do with this?" 

"Nah. Haven't seen him since he left," said Ruki vaguely. She was thinking, _I am going to marry a Healer someday. I don't care if they're squeamish about sex; I'll take this as a substitute._

"So who did it?" asked Hirokazu. "Or are you going to tell us you weren't looking where you were going and walked into a bonfire?" 

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated," said Ruki. "For your information, I ran into another roaming Cardmage, and we had a duel to pass the time." 

"Rough duel," said Takato. 

"Oh, like you've never gotten cut up in a duel," said Hirokazu. "Remember when you ran into that squire from System City, and he was laughing at your technique, and you said you could whip ten of him, and-" 

"Did you have to bring that up?" Takato muttered. 

"But you're not supposed to get beat up," said Shuichon, eyes wide. "You're a _legend_. Everybody knows that. You're supposed to win." 

"I did win," said Ruki. "She was pretty good, but you could tell she didn't have any field experience. She's never had to fight anyone to the death before. Every time she scored a hit, she stopped to make sure I was okay before she fired again." 

"She?" Jenrya repeated, giving her a keen look. "This Cardmage of yours - would she have been in her late twenties and have long red hair?" 

Ruki could have slapped herself. In all the commotion, she had nearly forgotten that Jenrya had formerly worked for Yamaki. They hadn't discussed his sordid past at all since Shuichon had joined the group, but of course he would have been familiar with his former employer's helpers. 

"She might have been," Ruki conceded. 

"Reika," said Jenrya, more to himself than anyone else. "What's she doing mixed up in this?" 

"Who is Reika?" asked Takato. 

"Yamaki's student," said Jenrya. "Also his lover, apparently, if the rumors are to be believed. She helps him in his studies. I knew she studied Cards, but I've never seen her in battle." 

"Sounds like trouble to me," Hirokazu opined. "Women are always trouble. No offense," he added, glancing at Ruki, Juri, and Shuichon. 

"Reika's all right," said Jenrya. "I've worked with her a few times. She's not... imperious, like he is. Always very polite. Absolutely loyal to Yamaki, of course. She was the only person I ever saw him show any kindness to," he added thoughtfully. "He must be getting desperate, to do anything that put her in danger..." 

"He didn't send her," said Ruki. "She came of her own accord." 

"Well, that's news," Jenrya replied. "I always thought she didn't like fighting." 

"She told me she was worried about him," Ruki answered. "She wanted me to promise that when we finally meet up with him again, we won't kill him." 

"That's nuts," said Hirokazu. "He's the enemy. I mean, he's not just someone we've been hired to fight with, he's the _bad guy._ You don't go around being merciful to the bad guys!" 

"He could change," said Juri softly. 

"He's already changed once - for the worst," said Jenrya bitterly. 

Shuichon nodded. "He took my dad." 

"Well... I promised," said Ruki, staring at her feet. There was silence for a moment. She looked up, eyes flashing. 

"What was I supposed to do?" she demanded. "You weren't there, so you didn't see anything. I've got my reasons for promising, okay?" 

"You don't have to apologize," said Takato. "It was your decision." 

Ruki didn't look completely pleased. "Anyway, I didn't promise for you guys, just me, so it's my problem." 

"It's not a crime to feel sorry for someone," said Kenta. "I would have done the same thing, if it were me." 

"I guess," said Ruki. "I did kind of feel sorry for her. A little. She doesn't like this mess any better than we do." 

"Moumantai!" Terriermon piped up. "It'll all work out somehow. Killing people's messy, anyway. Puts everybody in a bad mood." 

Jenrya almost smiled. "You could be right about that. As for me, I'll decide what I'll do when I get there. If he's done anything to my father, I might be glad I never made any promises." 

There was a moment of grim silence. Ruki didn't like it, and decided to get rid of it. 

"I hope you saved me something to eat," she said. "All that spellfighting took it out of me." 

Food was brought forth, though not much of it, since the Digimon had gotten first pick. Ruki ate what she was given without complaining or even thinking about it very much. Aside from having more important things on her mind, fighting really did leave her hungry. Her teachers had always told her that magic came from strength of the spirit and discipline of the mind, but it was her experience that it was hard to have either of those on an empty stomach. 

It was a half-hour or more by the time Ryo and Cyberdramon finally returned. Ryo's cloak and boots showed signs of having been dragged through mud and brambles, but his expression was pleased. The others regarded him warily. 

"Where have you been all night?" asked Ruki. 

"Checking the landmarks. I told you that," he answered. "I found it. We're closer than I thought we were. I would have found it sooner, but I misread the signs and took a wrong turn. We can be there in an hour, if we move quickly." 

He began walking back the way he had come, then stopped, obviously wondering why no one was following him. 

"Come on," he said. "You'll be a lot safer there than you are here." 

"How do we know that?" asked Jenrya. 

"Because the Sage has hidden his remains there for centuries, and nobody has found them yet, have they?" 

"You found them," Hirokazu was quick to point out. 

"I did not," Ryo answered. "I was... allowed access, because of my unique qualifications." 

"Did the great sage need someone to annoy him?" Ruki drawled. 

"No," said Ryo. "Listen - do you remember that before I left, I told you I would explain to you a bit about who I am and why I'm mixed up in all this?" 

The others nodded. 

"Well, the truth is," he answered, "I'm not human. Not completely. The fact of the matter is that I'm one-half Digimon." 

The others gave him stunned looks. He grinned. 

"Under proper circumstances, humans and Digimon can interbreed," he said. He flashed a look in Juri's direction. "I'd keep that in mind, if I were you." 

Juri flushed, and Leomon looked distinctly uncomfortable. 

"That is what caught the sage's attention," Ryo continued. "My very existence is a sign to him that his goals are close to being fulfilled. That is why he took me into his confidence. We have goals that coincide, you see." 

"And these are?" asked Jenrya, raising one eyebrow. 

Ryo shrugged. "Come and see for yourself." 

In the end, curiosity, coupled with a desire to be somewhere safe, for once, won them over. The group followed Ryo into the deepening night, trudging wearily through the forest. There was hardly any light. As far as the humans could tell, they were walking through a tunnel of shadows with walls of rough bark and a floor of fallen leaves. There was no way of gauging how long they had been walking, and it began to feel as if they were walking through some kind of dream. Gradually, it became obvious that they were working their way up an incline, and various tired muscles and sore feet protested the strain. The trees thinned, and at last, they stepped out into the starlight and found themselves looking at a knob of rock that thrust from the bald crown of a hill. Ryo waved his staff grandly at it, as if he were showing them through the door of a grand manor. 

"Here we are!" he said. "I told you I'd get you here, and I have." 

"It's a rock," said Culumon, summing up everyone's feelings. "Why did we come to look at a rock, culu? There were plenty of rocks back where we came from, culu culu." 

"This one is special," said Ryo. "Sit back and watch me do a trick." 

He rested the tip of his staff against the stone, and it began to glow softly. The onlookers heard him begin to speak soft words, which sounded to those who knew no magic like some kind of arcane chant. To those who did know magic, it sounded like utter nonsense. However, they must have held some sort of meaning, because the lump of rock he was touching abruptly ceased to be. In its place was a crude tunnel, looking as if it had been there since the beginning of time. 

"What was that all about?" asked Hirokazu. 

"Password-magic," Ryo explained. "Those were the names of the five Digimon gods - Zhuqiaomon, Xuanwumon, Baihumon, Qinglongmon, and Huanlongmon. It's not something just anyone would say in a casual conversation." 

"I see," said Ruki, and she did. Password-magic was one of the more advanced branches of technomagic. The simplest form involved teaching an enchanted object not to react unless it was presented with the correct word, action, or token. The most advanced form allowed something to be hidden absolutely, even from magical searches, unless the password was used. This must have been a spell of considerable power, to protect this place for so long. 

"After you," said Ryo, bowing. 

With no better choice, they went in. The tunnel was easy enough to follow, being wide, relatively smooth, and moving straight as a shaft of light. It angled downwards, though at a gradual enough decline that it was easy to follow. This was good, because there were no lights, and they soon found themselves wishing they were back in the forest, where they could, at least, _almost_ see where they were going. Ruki found herself falling back on her magical senses, but it was no use. There was strong magic here, stronger than anything she'd felt since she'd left the University. There, hundreds of students and teachers of magic had come together, along with uncountable texts and artifacts. She was getting much the same feeling here, only, amazingly enough, it was _stronger_. At the University, a certain number of dampers had been put down to keep everyone from going crazy from the constant barrage of magical energy. There were no such dampers here, and the air fizzed with power. It was as potent, in its way, as one of Kenta's overenthusiastic rechargings. She hated to think what one of her spells would do down here if it went off; she had the feeling that even a small destructive spell would be enough to reduce the whole hill and a fair chunk of the forest to dust. 

_This really is it,_ she thought, feeling a cold chill down her spine. _It's not a joke or a trap or anything. This really is the grave of the greatest sage who ever lived..._

The floor leveled out so abruptly that she stumbled, and proceeded to bang her thigh against what felt like a table. She swore. 

"Oops," said Ryo innocently. "Forgot that was there." 

"This is ridiculous," said Jenrya. "Does anybody have a light?" 

"Allow me," said Juri. She said something else in a lilting language, and an orb of sun-colored light appeared and drifted up to the ceiling. Everyone blinked and shier eyes, dazzled by the sudden brilliance. 

"Sorry!" Juri said. "It's not usually that bright." 

"I should have warned you," said Ryo. "There's a lot of concentrated magic down here. Any spell you do is going to be stronger than normal... so keep a lid on the pyrotechnics." 

"I knew that," said Ruki, giving him a glare. It annoyed her when people tried to tell her things that were perfectly obvious. The field down here was strong enough to make her giddy, carrying with it the siren-song temptation to try something, just to see what she could do. 

She distracted herself by taking a closer look at her surroundings. She was standing in a fair- sized room that appeared to have been hewn out of the living rock. It would have been called large, if it weren't for the fact that a number of people and Digimon were crowding it, making it seem smaller. Thankfully, there wasn't much in the way of furnishing. A few blocky machines stood against a far wall, humming and blinking or occasionally emitting a soft beep. The solid object Ruki had run into was not a table at all, or at least, not the sort anyone would have wanted to eat breakfast off of. It was a solid block of pale grey stone, something similar to marble, and perched on top of it was a carven likeness of a man, wrought in such perfect detail that he might have been frozen that way by a spell rather than carved by human hands. It was entirely possible he had. 

"Yes, that's me. Impressive, don't you think?" 

Everyone but Ryo jumped, looking around for the source of the voice. It seemed to come from everywhere at once. Then there was a faint bluish shimmer in the air, looking like light reflecting from a stream of water. Gradually, it formed itself into the shape of a man, one who looked eerily like the carving on the stone. He was blonde and pale skinned, with long hair and a slightly untidy beard. The clothing he wore seemed to be made of simple cloth, perhaps cotton or linen, and dyed in various shades of blue, and would have been quite handsome if it hadn't been some three centuries out of style. The most remarkable thing about him were his eyes, which were very dark, and had a dreamy, unfocused look to them - not so much as if he were pondering the cosmic mysteries, but more as if he hadn't woken up properly and didn't quite know where he was. 

"Though to be perfectly honest, that isn't _really_ me at all," the soft, deep voice continued. "But it is a very good replica. Then again, _I'm_ not really me, either, so in a sense, that is a more accurate reproduction of me than the aspect of myself they meant to capture." 

Those who prided themselves on being intelligent nodded and tried to look as if this made perfect sense. Those who had no such illusions simply gave the man blank looks. The only ones who did not do either of these things were Ryo, who was looking as if his famed sage was not making the impression he'd hoped for, and Culumon, who had not paid any attention. He toddled over to the specter and smiled up at him. 

"Hi!" he chirped. "I haven't seen you in a long, long time, culululu! Where have you been? I missed you, culu." 

"I missed you too, my little friend," answered the sage. "I am pleased to see you again, and even more pleased that you've brought friends with you." 

"Hold up!" said Ruki. "Time out. You... and Culumon... know each other?" 

"Sure!" Culumon said. "Gorou is my friend, culu culu!" 

"Gorou?" Ruki repeated. "Hold it just a minute. I thought we were here to see the Great Sage Shibumi." 

"You are," said the specter. "I am he. Gorou was my given name. Shibumi is... more of a title. A nickname, if you will. It means-" 

"Perfection," said Jenrya. "Effortless perfection. Wisdom without requiring thought. Skill without needing effort. Authority without having dominion." 

"You read that out of a book, didn't you?" said Hirokazu. "Say what you really mean and dump the poetry." 

"He means everybody thinks Shibumi was so cool, they gave him a special name for it," Shuichon explained. 

"But nobody told Culumon this," said Ruki. "How long have you two known about each other?" 

"All of Culumon's life," said Shibumi, "Though only a few days of my own. I created him." 

There was a general outcry. Culumon blinked at them all, obviously confused as to what the fuss was all about. 

"Created him?" Jenrya repeated. "How do you create a Digimon?" 

"Very carefully," answered Shibumi, smiling faintly. "Indeed, it took so much out of me that I have thought at times that it was the effort that finally killed me. He's still imperfect - he has no power to evolve or attack. Still, I am proud of him." 

He looked with admiration at his creation, who was scurrying around on the floor, playing a game of tag with his shadow and giggling. 

"And... why exactly is that?" asked Terriermon. 

"I had a sense there was something odd about him," said Renamon. "There is a kind of power about him, but a power he does not use. I would guess that he is unable to. Is that correct?" 

"Yes," said Shibumi. "Culumon is my single greatest creation, the culmination of a lifetime of effort. One of my most brilliant ideas, if I do say so myself. I suppose you've all heard the legends about the coming of the Digimon?" 

"Some of them, yes," said Ruki. 

"There is truth in them. I did open a portal to the world of Digimon, and they did pass through. So, too, came the D-Reaper and its destruction. Its power was immense, and many people and Digimon were lost. In the end, the Digital Gods appeared and did battle with it, but their powers were weakened by leaving their home world, and they exhausted their strength and vanished. The D-Reaper was defeated, but not destroyed; it was forced back to a dormant stage, sealed away and rendered harmless for a few years, at best. Knowing this, I turned all my energies to undoing the damage my experiments had done, and inventing safeguards against the time when the D-Reaper might rise again. In the end, there were two great creations, my shield and sword..." 

He trailed off and gazed into space a minute. 

"Shield and sword?" asked Hirokazu. "I thought we were talking about Culumon." 

"But we are," said Shibumi. "Culumon is my shield, my preventative measure. All the magic I used to open the door to the Digital World, reversed it, and sealed it into the most unlikely hiding place I could devise: a living Digimon." 

"What do you mean, reversed it?" asked Ruki curiously. 

"I mean what I say," he answered. "To simplify: instead of magic for opening a door, it is now magic for sealing things shut. What was once the most powerful opening spell ever devised is now an equally powerful restraint. I have bound the D-Reaper to it, so that as long as Culumon is undiscovered, the D-Reaper can never be released. What could be safer? Who would think that something so powerful could be hidden in something so inoffensive? And even if they did, who in this age would voluntarily seek contact with a Digimon?" He shook his head, his expression one of deep sorrow. "Thus from great injustice, some good may come." 

"How do you mean?" asked Jenrya. 

"It was never my intention that Digimon be brought into this world to be treated as monsters," said Shibumi. "I was friends with many of them, before I died. I had nothing but the greatest respect for them. It was my wish that the two races live as friends. I never wanted to leave them to make war with each other. That was the flaw in my plans, you see." 

"Er... not really," said Takato. 

"I could wager a guess," Ruki said. "When you took apart the opening spells, the door between the worlds closed up, and now the Digimon can't get home." 

"Not only can they not get home," said Shibumi, "but there are humans trapped on the other side... or there were when I was alive. I have no way of knowing whether there are any left." 

Ruki felt a cold shock. That was a possibility she'd never thought of before. It was so easy to think of Digimon as invaders in _her_ world, but it had never crossed her mind that humans would have entered the other world, or that they might still be living there. She wondered whether or not they were being treated any better than the Digimon were here. 

"We've got to get them out!" said Shuichon. 

"We can't," said Jenrya. 

"Technically, you could," said Ryo helpfully. "After all, you have the key right here. It's just that if you did, you'd unleash a force of awe-inspiring destruction, and that might make things a tad awkward for your rescue mission." 

"And therein lies the rub," said Shibumi. "Either leave the door closed but remain safe from the D-Reaper, or open the door and unleash the monster. A bit of a paradox, one would think." 

"One would _think?_" Jenrya repeated, raising an eyebrow. 

"Yes," said Ryo. "Because, like so many problems, the answer is impossible to get until you have a missing piece of the puzzle. Here's a riddle: if Culumon is the shield, what do you think is the sword?" 

There was a moment of silence. 

"The Arks," said Ruki. "The Arks are bound up into this somehow." 

"Correct," Shibumi answered, smiling. "They are the weapons I devised to fight the D-Reaper, should it ever arise. They were specially devised to draw together a varied group of warriors, spellcasters, Healers, and most importantly, Digimon. The Arks allow the power of human magic to be blended with the innate abilities of Digimon. Only the two together will be able to fight it when it appears." 

"So here's what I don't get," said Takato. "If Culumon is the key for opening up the door to the Digital World and stuff, why is Yamaki so dead-set on getting him? He can't want to bring back the D-Reaper, can he?" 

"Not likely," said Jenrya. "Think about it. Culumon's magic isn't just for opening _that_ door. That's how he started out, but a skilled mage like Yamaki could use him to open _anything_... even his eyes." 

"Good grief," Ruki muttered. "Talk about having your priorities wrong." 

"Personally, I think he's got the right idea," said Ryo. 

He suddenly found an uncomfortable number of eyes fastened on him. He blinked and looked innocent. 

"What?" he said. 

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you now, as a service to mankind," said Ruki. 

"You act like I said something wrong. I'm crushed," he said. "I want the door opened. That's my whole reason for being here. Right now, I belong nowhere - neither to this world or to the Digital World, because I'm a blend of them both. I want the door to open so the two worlds can join. That is my purpose in life... but I can't do it alone. It has to be all of the Digimon Tamers together. No single being, even a hybrid like myself, could hope to take on the D-Reaper and live." 

"Well, that's an encouraging thought," said Ruki. "So, what you're saying is that you brought us out here to tell us that you want us to open the door to the Digital World and release the greatest danger the world has ever known _on purpose_, just so you can have some company for your misery?" 

"No," said Shibumi firmly. "For my part, what I want is to see the D-Reaper not just delayed, but destroyed for all time. I have supplied you with tools. I believe they will work. When the D-Reaper is gone and the worlds reunited, my work will be complete, and my spirit can finally rest in peace." 

"The other stuff is just a fringe benefit," said Ryo, grinning wickedly. 

"Well, I don't like it," said Ruki. "The world was just fine before you started tinkering with it, and I don't see why I ought to be obliged to undo your mistakes." 

"You are not required to," answered Shibumi, his voice surprisingly gently. "You can only choose to accept, or not to accept." 

"I do not," she said. "As far as I'm concerned, the best thing to do would be to keep anyone from ever unlocking the spell. I'm certainly not going to do it. This whole thing has been a waste of my time." 

She turned on her heel and marched out of the room, followed closely by Renamon. 

"Hey, wait, come back!" Takato shouted, and he scrambled to catch up. In ones and twos, the rest of the group trailed after them in various stages of bewilderment. Soon, only Shibumi and Culumon remained in the room. 

"Why did they all leave?" asked Culumon, gazing up at his friend with wide eyes. 

Shibumi shook his head. "They aren't convinced, I think. Even I can't force someone to take the path I choose for them. It may yet be that all my plans will come to nothing. Well... what will be, will be. Look after them for me, little friend." 

"Okay!" said Culumon. 

He leaped into the air and unfurled his ears, sailing away like a kite. A moment later, the light in the room flickered and died, and Shibumi's tomb fell into darkness once more.

* * *

When Reika returned to her home, she did not get the kind of welcome she was hoping for. Her preference, in fact, would have been not to receive any welcome at all, at least until she'd had time to clean herself up a bit. Her lovely dress was torn and scorched, her hair was in disarray, and on the whole, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that she had been in a fight, even if those eyes happened to be sealed shut. 

Yamaki was waiting for her, pacing the floor in agitation. 

"Where have you been?" he demanded. 

"I - I just stepped out for a minute." 

"You don't sound very sure of yourself," he said icily. "I smell the smoke on your clothing. I feel strange magic on you. No, not strange at all - all too familiar. Where have you been?" 

Reika hesitated, her mind reeling as she attempted to think of an answer he would accept. None would come to her. She opened her mouth to try to say something, anything, but before she could speak, Yamaki lunged forward and seized her. One hand closed around her throat. 

"You've never lied to me before," he whispered. "Why are you lying to me now? I don't like it when people lie to me, Reika." The velvet in his voice contrasted with the strength of his grip, which was slowly tightening. "Tell me the truth! You were with that sorceress, weren't you? That meddlesome Cardmage, Ruki Makino. You never wanted me to do this at all, did you? You were plotting against me with her! You _traitor!_" 

His hand clenched tightly, and Reika made a strangled sound as her air supply was abruptly cut off. Her ears buzzed and her vision slowly clouded over as his grip continued to tighten... 

Yamaki was brought to his senses by the feel of something wet on his hand. What was this? Blood? No, it couldn't be. What was it? He released his grip and let his fingers trace their way up her face to brush the dampness away from her eyes. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, it occurred to him that he had never made her cry before. Reika dropped to her knees and coughed as she struggled to breathe again. 

"... I ... I wasn't," she managed to gasp. 

"What?" he asked. 

"I... wasn't... plotting against you." She coughed again. "Trying to help. I... I fought with her. I thought... I made her promise. I made her promise not to hurt you. I was only trying to help..." 

She trailed off as she looked up at him. His face had gone stark white. He turned this way and that, as if he had suddenly realized he was caught in a trap and was seeing himself being hemmed in on all sides. 

"No," he whispered. "No!" 

With a sudden cry, he turned and fled the room. 

Yamaki seldom ran anywhere, but now he sprinted as if his life depended on it - or as if someone else's life depended on it. He stumbled on the carpets, fell against a wall, pulled himself to his feet and kept going. At last, he reached his own rooms, and he hid himself inside and locked the door behind him. Gasping for air, he slumped against the closed door and tried to catch his breath. He held up his hands before him as if they were likely to attack him. 

"What am I doing?" he asked himself. "What is the matter with me? I almost killed her. How could I do that? What's come over me? Is it the spell, or...?" 

_No. It is no spell._

Yamaki flinched, cringing away as if he'd been struck. There had been a voice, but it had come from nowhere. It was as soundless as the thoughts in his own mind, without tone or volume. He had the sudden unsettling thought that if a computer could talk, it would sound that way. There was no emotion in that voice at all, only a blunt statement of fact. 

"What are you?" Yamaki demanded. 

_Statement: I keep order. I preserve the balance. My purpose is to destroy all things that have outgrown their boundaries._

"What have you got to do with me?" 

_Statement: I suffer from a malfunction. Statement: You are able to assist me. Statement: I am able to supply what you desire. Conclusion: Our forces must be combined._" 

"And why should I help you, whatever you are?" Yamaki demanded. 

_Statement: It is my purpose to destroy all things that have outgrown their boundaries. Observation: You are the most powerful human being living on this world. Deduction: You should be destroyed. Counter-observation: It would not be necessary to destroy you if you were assimilated into my program. Query: Do you desire destruction?_

Yamaki shook his head. "No." 

_Query: Do you choose to assist me?_

The mage hesitated. 

"You are the one who's been manipulating me," he said. "You're what attacked me when I was thinking of abandoning my plans. You made me attack Reika when you thought she was a threat." 

_Affirmed._

"Can I get rid of you?" 

_Negative._

"What will happen if I try?" 

_Statement: The more power you use against me, the more grounds I will have for destroying you. Conclusion: It is futile for you to resist me. Reiteration: You cannot fight me._

"And if I choose to join you?" he asked warily. 

_Observation: You will gain what you seek._

"You mean...?" 

_Affirmed._

He took a deep breath. "In that case... I have no choice. Is that so?" 

_Affirmed._

"What will it do to me, if I agree?" 

_Fact: I will assimilate your powers with mine. Then I will release you._

"Do you promise?" 

_Fact: I am unable to make promises. Addendum: I am unable to lie._

Yamaki nodded. It was as he suspected: this was some kind of strange technomagic, a bizarre form of computer program. It could not make promises because it had no true will of its own; however, lacking a will, it could not intentionally deceive him, either. Whatever it said had to be the truth as it understood it. With that understood, it also had to be true that it wasn't lying when it said it had the power he desired... 

"Very well," he said. "Do it and be quick about it." 

_Affirmed,_ said the voice, and that was the last thing he knew before the fog closed in. 

**

To Be Continued

**


End file.
